Yerevan, Armenia. Armenians vote in a parliamentary election on June 7 in a test of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s efforts to forge peace with Azerbaijan and deepen ties with Western countries while moving away from Russia. The vote is the first since Armenia’s 2023 military defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Support and campaign backdrop
When Anna Yegoyan first moved from Yerevan to the northern mountain town of Ijevan, she travelled on bumpy, potholed roads. Years later, she points to newly paved streets and highways as evidence of change under Pashinyan, who grew up there, and says she will support him in the election.
Yegoyan, 40, attended a rally for Pashinyan in Ijevan, a town of about 20,000 people. She said Armenia had become “a proper country” and that “our place in the world is more recognisable.”
Election stakes
Pashinyan says he wants to turn the landlocked nation of 3 million into a “crossroads of peace” by reopening long-closed borders with Azerbaijan and its ally Turkey.
Polls show Pashinyan’s Civil Contract leading with roughly 30% support. His main rival, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who supports closer ties with Moscow, trails at between 6% and 11%.
Pressure from Russia
The shift away from Russia is delicate. Armenia sends around a third of its exports to Russia and has long depended on Moscow for energy.
In recent weeks, Russia, which maintains a large military base in Armenia, has increased pressure by restricting a wide range of Armenian exports and threatening to cut off cheap gas and oil.
The government in Yerevan has largely played down the risks. Surveys show a third of Armenians now view Russia as a threat, behind only Azerbaijan and Turkey.
International attention
Pashinyan has received backing from U.S. President Donald Trump, who helped broker a meeting between him and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and is pushing for a transit corridor across southern Armenia as part of a peace deal.
Europe is also watching closely. Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, said Europe has a clear interest in Armenia “being more sovereign, more autonomous, and more able to trade westwards” as it seeks a foothold in a region between Russia and Iran.
After Nagorno-Karabakh
Sunday’s vote comes after Armenia’s 2023 military defeat, when Azerbaijan retook the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting the exodus of around 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
