Armenia Concludes Pivotal Election with 59% Turnout

Armenians voted Sunday in parliamentary elections that could cement Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Westward tilt, after threats from Moscow and claims of Russian interference.

Turnout was 58.97 percent when polls closed at 1600 GMT, the Central Election Commission said, with partial results expected early Monday.

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 Azerbaijan’s 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.

While US President Donald Trump offered his “TOTAL Endorsement for Re-Election” to “great friend and Leader” Pashinyan, Moscow has bristled at the possible loss of yet another ally in its backyard.

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Armenia Votes in Pivotal Election Testing Pashinyan’s Westward Shift Amid Russian Pressure

Armenia held a high-stakes parliamentary election on Sunday to determine the political future of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his diplomatic pivot toward the West. Faced with Russian economic bans and allegations of Kremlin election interference, Pashinyan has framed the ballot as a choice between a durable peace treaty with Azerbaijan or a return to warfare.

“We will accept any choice made by the people,” Pashinyan told journalists at a polling station in Yerevan after casting his ballot.

He pledged Armenia would pursue a balanced foreign policy after the vote, insisting “there is no question of choosing” between Russia and the West.

In a pointed remark, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in May: “We all see what is happening with Ukraine now... How did it all begin? With Ukraine’s attempt to join the EU.”

The Kremlin has been accused of seeking to sway the vote.

Analysts have noted misinformation on the web, hacker activity and Kremlin-friendly narratives portraying Western cooperation as dangerous.

In the weeks before the vote, Russia banned the import of several products from Armenia -- seen as a move to heap economic pressure on the country.

And Armenian officials have warned “enemies of freedom” are funding propaganda efforts.

- ‘Reckless rush’ -

Pashinyan has insisted he does not want a rupture with Moscow.

But the campaign was a battle over Armenia’s geopolitical future.

Pashinyan and his chief opponents have all accused each other of risking a fresh conflict.

Pashinyan told voters Armenia could face a “catastrophic war” with Azerbaijan within months if his Civil Contract party -- leading in opinion polls -- fails to secure a strong majority.

His opponents say that rhetoric is fear mongering.

Ex-president Robert Kocharyan’s “Armenia” opposition party said “the authorities are carrying out large-scale repression, particularly against campaign staff, and using administrative resources.”

The Strong Armenia opposition alliance led by billionaire Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan -- which is polling second -- decried “numerous electoral violations” and “repressions.”

Prosecutors said 165 criminal cases had been opened into “instances of alleged obstruction of the election process”.

Karapetyan has rejected claims he would drag Armenia back into Russia’s orbit, but warned against Pashinyan’s “reckless rush” to the West.

He has been under house arrest since last year on charges of plotting a coup -- allegations he rejects as politically motivated.

Western Europe has made little secret of who it wants to win.

In a high-profile visit in May, French President Emmanuel Macron threw his support behind Pashinyan, embracing the Armenian leader as a dear friend.

- ‘Voted for peace’ -

It remains unclear whether Pashinyan’s party can secure the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to pass constitutional amendments, demanded by Azerbaijan as a condition for a final peace treaty.

Pashinyan’s democratic record is also on the ballot paper.

Eight years after he swept to power on a promise to dismantle Armenia’s oligarchic system, he faces increasing accusations of democratic backsliding.

Still, for many Armenians, the opposition remains associated with Russian influence and oligarchs.

“I voted for peace. Only Pashinyan can bring peace,” one voter, 63-year-old craftsman Hakob Hakobyan, told AFP.

Another voter, Khachatur Movsisyan, a 59-year-old mechanical engineer, said he had backed an opposition party “because the country, and all of us, need change -- in foreign policy, domestic policy and in negotiations with Azerbaijan”.