Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s ruling party has won parliamentary elections, preliminary results showed on Monday, cementing the nation’s Westward tilt after threats from Moscow and claims of Russian interference.
Pashinyan has sought to loosen the ex-Soviet republic’s dependence on Moscow, while forging closer ties with the West.
His ruling Civil Contract party got 49.8 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the 23.3 percent of the Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia alliance, after all electoral precincts declared results, the Central Election Commission said.
Armenia and Russia are technically allies, but Moscow has compared the former Soviet republic’s EU ambitions to the same path it claims triggered its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The election comes after years of upheaval since Pashinyan was propelled to power in a 2018 street revolution.
The small Caucasus country is still reeling from long-time foe Azerbaijan’s military takeover of the Karabakh region. The conflict came to an end in 2023, when the Azerbaijan army seized control of the enclave, and most of the Armenian population fled.
Pashinyan has framed the vote as a choice between a lasting peace with Azerbaijan, or a return to war. The 51-year-old has also sought to loosen Armenia’s dependence on Moscow, after it failed to help during the Karabakh conflict.
He has frozen participation in a Russia-led security bloc while deepening ties with the European Union and United States, and set Armenia on a path toward possible EU membership. AFP
