Simonyan comments on Belarus protest note

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan commented on Belarus’ reaction to his recent statements, saying that as a parliamentarian he has greater freedom in expressing his views.

“I believe it is the disrespectful attitude toward Armenia, a partner in the CSTO, and toward Armenian statehood that damages relations. Preparing Azerbaijan for the 44-day war is what harms relations,” he said, according to Radar Armenia.

Simonyan stressed that every country has the right to choose its own political course.

“For Armenia, human rights and freedoms are among the highest values, and I think every state chooses its own model. We have chosen the path of democratization,” he said.

“I am a parliamentary figure and therefore freer in my statements than officials representing specific agencies or sectors. Parliamentarians have much greater freedom in expressing their thoughts,” Simonyan added.

Belarus earlier summoned Armenia’s chargé d’affaires Artur Sargsyan to the Foreign Ministry and handed him a protest note.

On May 5, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ruslan Varankov, commenting on Simonyan’s remarks, said the Armenian speaker’s statements were “nothing more than pre-election populism and a desperate attempt to distract public attention from severe domestic problems.”

Earlier, Simonyan said that “Armenia should not become a gubernia and be governed the way Belarus is.”

Relations between Armenia and Belarus have deteriorated since 2024, after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, during a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh, said he and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had discussed before the 2020 war the possibility of winning the conflict. He also stated that the time had come to revive those territories. Following those remarks, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared that neither he nor any Armenian official would visit Belarus while Lukashenko remains president.