The Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press service published a post on X marking Belarus’ Independence Day (Republic Day), celebrated on July 3. The message extends congratulations to the friendly people of Belarus but pointedly does not mention Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
“On the occasion of Independence Day, Armenia conveys its warm congratulations and best wishes to the friendly people of Belarus.”
The reason is that the authorities in Minsk have for several years omitted Armenia’s leadership from similar congratulatory messages. The same practice also applies to other countries that Lukashenka considers unfriendly.
The conflict between the regime in Minsk and Armenia’s leadership entered the public sphere in 2024, although tensions had been building because of Lukashenka’s close relationship with Ilham Aliyev. In June 2024, Nikol Pashinyan publicly stated that he would not visit Belarus as long as Lukashenka remained its leader.
It is worth noting that the so-called Independence Day on July 3 marks the liberation of the city of Minsk from German occupation by the Red Army on July 3, 1944. The Minsk regime abandoned the celebration of Independence Day on July 27, the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic on July 27, 1990. After the August 1991 coup attempt in the Soviet Union, on Aug. 25, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic granted the declaration of sovereignty the status of a constitutional law.