Facing C$25bn backlash, Carney to meet EU leaders in Yerevan

Mark Carney is in Armenia because Canada’s Europe file just got more urgent. Trade with the United States is still tense, the Iran war has complicated Ottawa’s foreign-policy balancing act, and Carney is trying to show that Canada has options beyond Washington. So this weekend he flew to Yerevan for the European Political Community summit — a gathering Canada normally would not even be in. (pm.gc.ca) ### Why is Yerevan suddenly important? The European Political Community is the broad political club Europe built after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — part EU, part wider strategic huddle. Carney is there as the only non-European leader, which makes the trip less ceremonial than it sounds. Ottawa says he is using the summit to talk security, infrastructure, defence readiness and support for Ukraine with European leaders. (pm.gc.ca) ### Why is Canada leaning into Europe now? Because the U.S. relationship is still unreliable. Carney’s office framed the trip around diversifying partnerships abroad while building strength at home. CTV’s rundown of the week captured the mood neatly — cross-border trade “irritants” are back near the top of the agenda even(pm.gc.ca)ur. (pm.gc.ca) ### What does Armenia have to do with that? More than you’d think. Armenia is trying to pull closer to the West and further from Russia, and Canada has been inching in too. Ottawa opened an embassy in Yerevan in 2023, and Canada became the first non-EU country to join the EU’s civilian monitoring mission in Armenia. Carney is expected to meet Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, but most of his short stay is aimed at Europe-facing diplomacy. (cbc.ca) ### Where does the C$25 billion backlash come in? It comes from timing and politics. Just days before the trip, Carney unveiled Canada’s first sovereign wealth fund with a C$25 billion starting stake and a promise to catalyze far more private investment into domestic industry. Supporters see a long-game industrial policy tool. Critics see a huge pool of money launched while(cbc.ca)fting away from the coalition that helped elect him. (ipolitics.ca) ### Why is Iran part of this story? Because it exposed how awkward Carney’s positioning can get. He initially backed Washington’s war aims when the conflict began on February 28, 2026, then shifted within days as Trump’s objectives became clearer and as legal concerns sharpened. Carney now says the problem was not the goal of cons(ipolitics.ca)th hawks and anti-war voices — which is usually a sign you’re trying to straddle two arguments at once. (halifax.citynews.ca) ### Is this really about Ukraine too? Yes — and that is one reason Europe invited him. Carney tied the Yerevan trip to co-ordinating support for Ukraine once there is a durable ceasefire. He also linked the summit to broader transatlantic defence readiness. So even though the headlines mention Armenia, the real table is Europe’s security architecture. (pm.gc.ca) ### What is he trying to prove? That Canada can still act like a middle power with room to maneuver. Carney wants to show he can attract capital at home, deepen security ties abroad and keep Canada from being boxed in by Trump’s America. The catch is that every one of those moves now carries domestic political cost. (pm. ([pm.gc.ca) Bottom line This Armenia trip is really a Europe trip, and the Europe trip is really a hedge against Washington. Carney is betting that closer ties with Europe — plus big investment promises at home — will look strategic, not scattered. The next few months will decide whether that looks like statecraft or overreach. (pm.gc.ca)