Canada to be first non-European nation at EPC summit as Carney seeks allies

Canada is to become the first non-European country to attend a meeting of the European Political Community when the prime minister, Mark Carney, joins Monday’s summit of the 48-plus nation grouping in Yerevan, Armenia. Carney has said he is determined to build a new network of trade and diplomatic alliances after the loss of US markets under Donald Trump . His presence will also represent a show of western support for Armenia in its efforts to distance itself from Russia at a time when the US’s approach to Moscow’s opponents, such as Ukraine, is at best ambiguous. Canadian diplomats have rejected suggestions Ottawa might seek EU membership. Trump’s plan to pull more than 5,000 troops out of Germany over the next year and the economic impact on western economies of a prolonged US-Iran conflict will be major subjects of discussion in Yerevan. Armenia shares a border with Iran, but unlike neighbouring Azerbaijan has not alleged Iranian missiles have landed in its territory. Yerevan was chosen to host the EPC – an institution championed the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and which also includes the UK – to give Armenia a chance to showcase its strengthening links with Europe, and so continue its slow decoupling from Russia, its former backers. Its prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has pursued a policy of diversification that in practice is slowly drawing Armenia into the European ambit. …