Armenian PM Claims Victory In Election, Cementing Westward Tilt

Pashinyan’s push to forge closer ties with the West and move Armenia out of the orbit of its former imperial ruler has angered the Kremlin.

The election comes after years of turmoil since Pashinyan was swept to power in a 2018 street revolution.

The small Caucasus country is still haunted by Azerbaijan’s 2023 military takeover of Karabakh, which ended decades of territorial conflict and prompted the exodus of the enclave’s 100,00, strong ethnic Armenian population.

Pashinyan framed the vote as a choice between lasting peace with Azerbaijan and a return to war.

His ruling Civil Contract party got 49.8 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the 23.3 percent of Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia alliance, the Central Election Commission said.

On a question, Pashinyan told Turkish media that Yerevan has established an excellent dynamic with Türkiye amid normalization efforts.

“We must sustain this momentum to achieve the ultimate breakthrough.”

On the streets of Yerevan, voters greeted Pashinyan’s victory with a mix of relief, hope and unease, some seeing it as a mandate for peace, others warning that Armenia’s future remained uncertain.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen congratulated him on his win, telling him: “Armenia can count on us.”

“The spirit of the Velvet Revolution you led in 2018 is alive and well. We deeply value our partnership with a democratic Armenia that is drawing ever closer to Europe,” she said on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the result would boost “momentum toward closer ties with Europe.”

Ex-president Robert Kocharyan’s “Armenia” alliance also cleared the electoral threshold to get into parliament, winning 9.9 percent of the vote.

Turnout was 59 percent, the commission said.