Opposition activist and former Republican Party MP Mihran Hakobyan was attacked in Yerevan. Unknown masked assailants attacked him near a shopping center. Authorities have opened a criminal case for causing moderate bodily harm by a group of individuals motivated by hooliganism.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said there is a high probability that the country will leave the pro-Russian Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). According to him, this scenario is more likely than Yerevan resuming its participation in the bloc.
“As for the question of leaving or not leaving the CSTO. I will say that it is more likely that Armenia will leave the CSTO than that it will unfreeze its participation,” the prime minister said at a press conference.
Last year, Pashinyan reported that Armenia froze its participation in the CSTO because the bloc poses threats to the country's security and its continued existence. In March, Yerevan refused to participate in financing the organization.
Also, according to the Armenian leader, he does not want Russian TV channels to be disconnected from the public multiplex, although some of them “have cut off all possible lines.”
“Armenia wants to have normal friendly relations with Russia based on mutual respect. In my opinion, our relations with the Russian Federation will no longer be what they were before, but this does not mean that they should be bad,” Pashinyan said at a press conference.