May 4, 2026, declared non-working day in Armenia due to European  Political Community summit

ArmInfo.  In Armenia, the working day of May 4, 2026, will be moved to Saturday, April 18, 2026. The resolution was approved by the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers on January 29.

"As an active participant in the European Political Community (EPC)  and playing a key role in regional security and cooperation issues,  Armenia is preparing to host the 8th EPC Summit. Given the importance  of the event and the unprecedented level of participation for Armenia  (approximately 50 high-level delegations at the level of heads of  state or institutions are expected), it became necessary to move the  working day to May 4 to ensure the efficient organization of traffic  in Yerevan," the draft justification states.

The draft was prepared by the Office of the Prime Minister based on  Article 9 of the Law "On Holidays and Commemorative Days of the  Republic of Armenia." Its adoption will not require amendments to  other legal acts and will not entail additional expenditures or  budget cuts for state and local government bodies.

It was previously reported that 1 billion drams ($2.6 million) would  be allocated for the 8th European Political Community (EPC) summit in  Yerevan. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced that  Yerevan had sent verbal invitations to Azerbaijani President Ilham  Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to participate in  the summit. However, one Azerbaijani media outlet, citing a  diplomatic source, reported that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev  does not plan to attend the EPC summit in Yerevan.

The European Political Community (EPC) is an intergovernmental  organization established for political and strategic discussions on  the future of Europe, proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in  May 2022. The goal of Macron's proposal is to provide a platform for  policy coordination among all European countries and promote  political dialogue and cooperation to address issues of common  interest to strengthen the security, stability, and prosperity of the  European continent, particularly in light of the energy crisis.  The  European Community also includes non-EU member states such as the  United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey,  Georgia, and Armenia.

Since 2022, the Armenian Prime Minister has regularly participated in  European Community summits. It was in October 2022 that a declaration  was signed on the sidelines of such a summit in Prague, in which  Yerevan recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.