"Fake news," Armenian authorities deny report on French nuclear waste storage

A news article claiming that a French company has been shipping nuclear waste to Armenia is fake news targeting Armenia's international reputation, Armenian authorities said on Saturday.

In a statement, the Ministry of Environment said that the article titled “French Orano company has been secretly transporting nuclear waste to Armenia which will be stored in a national park” is “entirely disinformation and untrue.”

The ministry called on the media to act responsibly and refrain from circulating reports of unknown origin without fact-checking.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s office also commented on the matter, linking the disinformation to an ongoing hybrid war against Armenia. Pashinyan’s spokesperson, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, said on Facebook that information attacks are an important component of such hybrid warfare.

She said the recent fake news article, of unknown origin, is a vivid example of such an attack. “This is an attack against Armenia’s sovereignty, statehood, foreign policy independence, and democracy. The goal is clear: to damage Armenia’s international reputation and, in this case, to cast a shadow over our strategic partnership with France,” Baghdasaryan said.

Without naming any specific party, Baghdasaryan said that “certain centers”—by utilizing such anti-Armenian mechanisms—are effectively admitting that Armenia’s chosen course is disturbing them, which once again proves that the path Armenia has taken is the right one.

“Armenia will not deviate from that path, regardless of how many fake articles and information attacks are published,” Baghdasaryan said.

Mediamax, one of the Armenian news outlets that had earlier published a translation of the fake article, has since removed it and apologized for spreading disinformation.