The party of current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan won a clear victory in Armenia’s parliamentary elections held on Sunday, according to the final results released on June 8, in a victory that has been interpreted as a show of support from Armenians for the country’s rapprochement with the West and the EU despite warnings from Russia and suspicions of Moscow’s interference in the electoral process.
With the vote count now complete at the country’s 2,005 polling stations, the current prime minister’s Civil Contract party won 49.82% of the vote, reported the state-run Armenpress agency citing data released by the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Vahagn Hovakimyan; in second place was the Strong Armenia party led by pro-Russian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, with 23.28% of the vote, followed by the Armenia Alliance of former President Robert Kocharyan (9.93%). The Prosperous Armenia party of billionaire Gagik Tsarukyan reportedly received only 3.99% of the vote, falling short of the 4% threshold required for parliamentary representation.
According to the Armenian electoral commission, the country has nearly 2.5 million registered voters, of whom approximately 1.47 million participated in Sunday’s election, representing a turnout of nearly 59%. A total of 16 political parties and two coalitions ran in the election to secure seats in the Armenian parliament, which has a minimum of 101 seats.
Russia’s threats against a rapprochement with the EU
Pashinyan, 51, has sought to reduce Armenia’s dependence on Moscow after Russia failed to provide support during the Karabakh conflict, taking steps such as withdrawing Yerevan’s participation in the CSTO, a Russian-led military alliance, while at the same time deepening relations with the European Union and the United States, even going so far as to state recently that “Armenia wants to join the EU.”
The small country in the Caucasus remains deeply scarred by its military defeat in the 2023 war with Azerbaijan and the loss of Karabakh, an event that ended decades of border tensions and territorial conflict and triggered a mass exodus from the enclave of some 100,000 Armenians for fear of reprisals by the authorities in Baku. During the election campaign, Pashinyan has presented these elections as a choice between lasting peace with Azerbaijan or a return to war that no one wants; furthermore, he has been a leading advocate of the policy of normalizing relations with neighboring Turkey with the aim of ending decades of regional isolation.
Regarding the current Armenian leader’s intentions to move away from the Kremlin’s orbit and draw closer to the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated last month: “We all see what is happening now with Ukraine… How did it all begin? With Ukraine’s attempt to join the EU,” he said in what was interpreted as a direct warning to Yerevan.
In recent months, attacks by pro-Russian hackers and the spread of disinformation via the Internet have surged in Armenia, with Kremlin-friendly narratives portraying cooperation with the West as a danger to the Caucasian country. In the weeks leading up to yesterday’s vote, Russia banned the import of various Armenian products as a way to exert economic pressure on the country and influence the Armenians’ decision.
However, Pashinyan has insisted that he does not seek a complete break with Moscow. In his first statements after the results were announced, the prime minister assured that his government will maintain the policy of rapprochement with Europe but without severing ties with Russia. “We will also continue our membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. We will continue to develop our relations with Russia,” he said, as quoted by the Turkish news agency Anatolia. “This is a victory of history. This victory belongs to the Armenian people,” he emphasized.
Congratulations to the Armenian Prime Minister on his victory
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, congratulated the Armenian people on holding free and democratic elections on June 7 via a message posted on X, in which he conveyed his best wishes to Nikol Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party and emphasized that Russia’s attempts to “interfere and destabilize” Armenia have failed.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was another European leader to congratulate the current Armenian Prime Minister on his victory, noting that Armenia has confirmed “its pro-European direction”. “Nikol Pashinyan wins. Armenia has chosen continuity and confirmed its pro-European direction. An important sign that the region’s future is still being written,” he wrote on social media.
For his part, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also congratulated the Armenian prime minister on the victory of the Civil Contract party: “Congratulations to Nikol Pashinyan and his party on their electoral victory. The Armenian people have chosen democracy, stability, and a future increasingly aligned with Europe. Spain will continue to support Armenia on its path toward peace and closer ties with the EU.”
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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