Carney to participate in the European conference on security, trade – National
Prime Minister Mark Carney met Sunday with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in his country’s capital ahead of the summit of the European Political Community, a forum for strategic cooperation in politics, security and infrastructure.
Canada is the first non-European country to attend the meetings, which have taken place twice a year since they began after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. These meetings include EU countries and others such as Iceland, Turkey and Ukraine itself.
Carney thanked Pashinyan for the invitation to attend the summit during their meeting, saying it comes at a “crucial time” for Europe and European values.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the trip would focus on Ukraine’s defense and promote more trade and investment across the continent.
Carney will be in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, until Monday and will hold bilateral talks with several world leaders during the summit, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
He will also join the tripartite meeting between the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, president of the European Council.
External Affairs Minister Anita Anand is also accompanying the prime minister.
Jean-François Ratelle, a professor of international studies at the University of Ottawa who specializes in the Caucasus region, said it is disappointing that the visit does not appear to be aimed at continuing Canada’s years of advocacy for democracy and peace in Armenia.
“We’re seeing a complete change in our foreign policy, and what our common interests are,” Ratelle told The Canadian Press.
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“It’s looking out for our interests and our opportunities, and it’s not playing that leading role in the rules, and that’s what defined Canada.”
The prime minister’s report announcing the trip did not touch on the recent history of the Caucasus region. The previous Trudeau government weighed in several times on ethnic conflicts in the region and often expressed support for the Armenian diaspora in Canada.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Canada and other countries recognize the region as part of Azerbaijan, despite the majority of the region’s population being Armenian.
Conflicts have erupted in various areas, especially when Russian peacekeepers are being reduced after Moscow launches its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Azerbaijan blocked access to the region and eventually launched a military campaign against separatist groups that forced more than 100,000 people to leave by 2023, just as Canada opened an embassy in Yerevan.
Canada has spoken out against Azerbaijan’s actions, joined an EU security campaign and at one point suspended military shipments to Turkey over concerns the country was sending Canadian units to its ally Azerbaijan for use in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ottawa also sought to support what it called “fragile” democracies in former Soviet countries such as Armenia through, among other things, efforts to combat disinformation.
Ratelle said work has stalled since Carney took office, and there has been little visible work by the embassy in Yerevan to promote democracy.
Carney said Wednesday that he had never been to Armenia before. The last prime minister to visit was Justin Trudeau at the Francophonie conference in 2018.
The weekend trip comes as Canada works to build trade relations with countries such as Turkey, where Carney is expected to attend a NATO summit in July.
Before that trip, Anand and others took part in the Armenian Genocide, a claim rejected by the Turkish government.
Achim Hurrelmann, executive director of the Center for European Studies at Carleton University, said it appears that Carney is going to the summit to advance trade deals with Europe.
“I think he is very interested in the opportunity to meet with EU leaders, and leaders from Ukraine and the UK in particular, at the same time, to try to move forward in implementing some of the common initiatives that have been introduced with the European Union.”
– With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa
© 2026 The Canadian Press
