Pro-Western Armenian government wins election despite Russian pressure
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party won a decisive election that was seen as a test of whether the country would continue to move closer to the West. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
Pashinyan's centrist Civil Contract party won 49.8% of the vote, the Strong Armenia alliance came second with 23.2%, and the Armenia alliance third with 9.9%.
Sunday's vote was the first general election since Armenia, a small country in the South Caucasus with a population of three million, suffered a crushing military defeat by Azerbaijan in 2023.
They were seen as a test of the prime minister's drive to deepen ties with the West amid growing economic pressure from Russia, its largest trading partner and traditional ally.
Pashinyan, who has been in power since 2018, declared victory on Monday after preliminary results showed his party had won more than 50% of the vote.
"The Armenian people voted for peace, regional prosperity and cooperation," he said.
The election drew significant international attention to the country. On Monday, France and the EU congratulated Pashinyan, praising Armenia's rapprochement with the West.
The success of Civil Contract came amid a decline in Pashinyan's domestic support from 54% in 2021 to around 30% today, according to polls.
A total of 19 parties and alliances took part in the election, but only a few won enough votes to win seats in the National Assembly. Turnout was 59%, the election commission said.
The conservative Prosperous Armenia party, led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, came fourth with 4% of the vote.
It, like the Strong Armenia alliance led by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan and the Armenia alliance led by former President Robert Kocharyan, are pro-Russian.
"We will continue our course of rapprochement with the West, but we will also continue our participation and membership in the Eurasian Economic Union," Pashinyan also said on Monday.
In late May, the Russian president called on Armenia to hold a referendum "as soon as possible" on joining the EU or maintaining membership in the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a customs union from which Armenia benefits.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin listed the economic benefits Armenia could lose if it deepens ties with the West, noting that "the crisis in Ukraine began with attempts to move towards EU membership."
Russia supplies Armenia with gas at $177.50 per 1,000 cubic meters, while European market prices, as Putin pointed out to Pashinyan in April, exceed $600.
Two weeks before the election, Moscow banned the export of Armenian flowers, mineral water, cognac, fresh vegetables and fruit.
Pashinyan's efforts to distance the country from Moscow include adopting a law to begin the process of joining the EU and accelerating the peace process with neighboring Azerbaijan under US mediation. The latter earned him the approval of US President Donald Trump.
He also hosted a major summit of EU leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital Yerevan earlier this year.
Despite Pashinyan establishing good relations with European leaders, Armenia does not yet even have EU candidate status, and membership in the bloc is still far off.
The decline in his popularity is mainly due to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous enclave inside Azerbaijan that was home to 100,000 ethnic Armenians until Azerbaijan seized it by force in 2023.
Pashinyan's critics have never forgiven him for concessions in favor of peace with Azerbaijan, such as abandoning the campaign for the release of former Nagorno-Karabakh leaders imprisoned in the neighboring country.
A peace deal with Azerbaijan also remains deeply controversial: according to one recent poll, 44% of the public support it, while 41% oppose it.
Additional reporting: Caucasus correspondent Rayhan Demitrie.