Mark Carney to Join Yerevan EPC Summit, a First for Canada
mark carney will join Monday’s European Political Community summit in Yerevan, Armenia, making Canada the first non-European country to take part in the 48-plus nation grouping. The trip places Canada inside a forum championed by Emmanuel Macron just as Carney seeks new trade and diplomatic alliances after the loss of US markets under Donald Trump.
Carney’s attendance also gives western leaders a public signal of support for Armenia, which is trying to deepen ties with Europe while loosening dependence on Russia. Yerevan is hosting the gathering as Armenia prepares for June parliamentary elections and as Pashinyan pushes for a peace deal with Azerbaijan that could reopen Armenia’s closed borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Yerevan and Mark Carney
Canada’s move is unusual because the European Political Community was built as a 48-plus nation grouping for European states and close partners, not for a non-European country. Carney has said he is determined to build a new network of trade and diplomatic alliances, and Yerevan gives him a setting where that message meets the leaders most likely to receive it.
The summit brings Carney into the same diplomatic space as Nikol Pashinyan, who has pursued a policy of diversification that is slowly drawing Armenia into the European ambit. For Armenia, the optics are equally important: Yerevan was chosen to host the EPC to show strengthening links with Europe, and Carney’s presence adds weight to that effort.
Armenia, Russia, and Europe
Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow with Carnegie Europe, said: “European leaders will have to walk a fine line in Yerevan.” He added: “As they hold what looks like a pre-election rally for Pashinyan, they must also have a bigger conversation about building a more robust and less polarised Armenia.”
De Waal also said: “The country itself deserves full European attention.” He described Armenia as being “on the verge of a painful but transformative peace agreement with Baku that will lead to the reopening of its two long borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which have been closed since the 1990s.” Armenia froze its membership of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation in 2024, while Vladimir Putin said in April: “It’s simply impossible by definition,” speaking about Armenia being a member of both the EU and CSTO.
Trump, troops, and trade
Among the main subjects in Yerevan is Donald Trump’s plan to pull more than 5,000 troops out of Germany over the next year. Another major topic is the economic impact on western economies of a prolonged US-Iran conflict, with Armenia’s border with Iran giving that discussion a direct regional edge.
Carney is arriving while Canada looks for alternatives to the US market, and Armenia is moving toward its own European test. The day after the EPC meeting, Yerevan hopes the first bilateral summit between Armenia and the EU will deliver extra funding to promote democracy and visa liberalisation, leaving Pashinyan to show progress at home and Europe to show whether it can turn attention into concrete support.
