This country hands over conscientious objectors to Belarus, and the border functions at Yerevan airport are carried out by the FSB.

As we have already reported, Lithuania, in unofficial telephone negotiations with those Belarusians denied political asylum and in statements by officials involved in the deportation of Belarusians, offers a period of time before deportation for the person to leave Lithuania voluntarily and relocate to a so-called “third country.” Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia are suggested as allegedly “safe” third countries.

However, over the past year, several cases have already been recorded where Belarusians wanted by Belarus were arrested at the Armenian border. There is also a known case of a conscientious objector who was avoiding military service in Belarus being handed over to Belarus. In 2023 (after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine from the territory of hybrid-occupied Belarus), a man who failed to appear for a medical examination at the military enlistment office in 2018 was sent back from Yerevan to Minsk.

In the last six months, four more Belarusians have been detained in Armenia at Belarus’ request, as they were included in the CIS interstate wanted list. Two of them applied for political asylum, claiming they face political persecution in Belarus because they participated in protests in 2020.

One of the Belarusian detainees recounted that he was working as a programmer in Georgia and was sent on a business trip to neighboring Armenia by flight, where he was arrested at the request of the Republic of Belarus. When he was being taken for inspection and interrogation at Zvartnots Airport, he was brought to a room with a sign saying “FSB of the Russian Federation.”

For many Belarusians, this may come as a surprise, but border control in Armenia is handled by the FSB. Even in Belarus, such a scenario is hard to imagine.

Only recently has Armenia begun to reconsider this situation: at the end of February, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, stated that it would be “appropriate” for the Russian border guards to leave the airport.

It turns out that according to the Agreement on the Status of Russian Border Troops stationed on the territory of Armenia and the Conditions of Their Functioning, signed between Russia and Armenia on September 30, 1992, Russian border guards protect the republic’s borders with Turkey and Iran.

In Armenia, the FSB of Russia controls four locations, with four fully-fledged border detachments stationed there – at the borders (Gyumri, Armavir, Artashat, and Meghri) – and another separate checkpoint at Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan. Interestingly, Armenia funds at least 50% of these detachments. The FSB website, however, does offer the option for Armenians to serve there as an exception.

Therefore, Belarusians, especially those who are listed in Russian or Belarusian wanted databases, are advised to forget about Armenia as an option.

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