Armenia Loses Voting Rights in CSTO Over Unpaid Membership Fees

Armenia has been stripped of its voting rights in the CSTO

The member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) have decided to apply Article 25 of the organisation’s Charter to Armenia, which provides for the suspension of voting rights due to arrears in contributions.

meeting of the heads of state of the CSTO

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This is stated in a list of documents published on the Kremlin’s website, as cited by News.am.

The document is entitled ‘Decision of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation on the application of Article 25 of the CSTO Charter in respect of the Republic of Armenia’.

Under Article 25 of the organisation’s Charter, if a member state fails to settle its arrears to the CSTO budget within two years, the Collective Security Council may suspend its right to nominate candidates for quota-based posts and may also deprive it of its voting rights. These restrictions remain in force until the debt is fully repaid.

As RBC notes, Armenia effectively suspended its participation in the organisation as early as 2024, ceasing to pay membership contributions and take part in key events. However, Yerevan has not formally announced its withdrawal from the organisation. The country has repeatedly criticised the CSTO for failing to provide assistance during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The CSTO is a regional inter-state organisation comprising six countries of the former Soviet Union: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The CSTO’s primary objective is to protect its member states from external armed attack.

This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.

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