Third term for Pashinyan anchors Armenia’s pro‑EU course, despite Moscow’s interference
by https://euobserver.com/author/gaia-neiman/ · EUobserverArmenians went to the polls on Sunday to re-elect Brussels-friendly Nikol Pashinyan (Source: Gaia Neiman, EUobserver)
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By Gaia Neiman,
Yerevan, Armenia
,
Armenia’s incumbent prime minister Nikol Pashinyan has secured a third-term re-election with a slim majority, affirming the country’s pivot towards the EU.
Despite claims of bribery and tit-for-tat accusations of illegitimacy among the main contenders, Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party received 49.8 percent of the vote, with the main opposition party Strong Armenia only garnering a quarter of the ballot count.
Storming to power at the forefront of the 2018 Velvet Revolution, the PM declared his Civil Contract party to have secured a “historic victory” on Sunday (7 June) while only a fifth of votes had been counted.
“The spirit of the Velvet Revolution you led in 2018 is alive and strong,” EU Commission president Ursula Von den Leyen commented officially, complimenting Pashinyan on his re-election on social media. “We deeply value our partnership with a democratic Armenia, which is growing ever closer to Europe.”
“In the face of far-reaching coercion and interference by Russia, this victory reaffirms Armenians’ choice for a strong, sovereign and independent Armenia,” said EU commissioner for enlargement, Marta Kos, adding a visit to the Caucasus country would come “as soon as possible”.
Likewise, European Council president António Costa said: “The people of Armenia have voted for a future built on peace, stability and stronger cooperation with their neighbours and the world.”
Brussels had been holding its breath since groups linked to Russian intelligence allegedly spread false narratives about the prime minister online, alongside rumours of Kremlin investments to bring thousands of Russian-Armenians home to vote.
“Armenia has been subjected to intense foreign campaigns of informational manipulation and influence. This phenomenon has become, in recent years, a common reality for all electoral processes, and the effect of successfully defending democratic processes and institutions holds significance not only in the respective country but at the regional level,” said the Romanian foreign affairs ministry in a statement.
“Armenia has chosen its own democratic path despite threats and intimidation,” said Latvian president Edgars Rinkēvičs.
Among concerns of Russian interference ahead of national elections, Brussels deployed a Hybrid Rapid Response Team in Armenia in April to counter disinformation, while already having allocated €270m in ‘Resilience and Growth Plan’ funds between 2024-2027.
Armenia had become a significant Western asset in the formally Russian-leaning South Caucasus, with an official plan to apply to the EU membership and a plan to strengthen Euro-Asian trade via a corridor passing through its southern border, also known as the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.
The ‘peace’ candidate still needs constitutional amendments
Pashinyan’s campaign was built on his promise of bringing peace to the region, on the back of a pre-signed peace treaty that would deprive Armenia of any right to Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory violently occupied by Azerbaijan in 2020 and 2023.
While Civil Contract secured a parliamentary majority, advancing the peace process with Azerbaijan would require broader political backing.
Constitutional amendments needed to formally remove Armenian claims to Nagorno-Karabakh would require a two-thirds majority in parliament.
“This makes the next National Assembly more competitive than the previous one, but with the same, if not even more, deepened polarisation,” Narek Sukiasyan, lecturer in foreign policy at the American University of Armenia, told EUobserver.
“The EU will become the main partner to counter hybrid attacks,” Sukiasyan expects, although “having more parties positively aligned with Russia in the parliament will give Moscow more assertiveness in its relations with Yerevan.”
Despite displaying allegiance with Ukraine and hosting the first-ever EU-Armenia summit in May, Pashinyan’s government will maintain its membership of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, which commentators have deemed an economic necessity for a small and important-dependent nation.
“Ukraine is ready to expand our cooperation,” president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media to congratulate Civil Contract’s re-election.
“Our strong partnership is an investment in a more peaceful and prosperous future for the region as a whole,” he added.
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Armenians went to the polls on Sunday to re-elect Brussels-friendly Nikol Pashinyan (Source: Gaia Neiman, EUobserver)
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Gaia Neiman is a junior migration and politics reporter at the EUobserver. She has previously written for Reuters, The Guardian, The Telegraph, among others.
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