Armenia's pro-West government wins election despite Russian pressure

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party has won a crucial election billed as being key in deciding whether the country continues to move closer to the West.

Pashinyan's centrist Civil Contract Party secured 49.8% of the vote, with the Strong Armenia Alliance coming in second with 23.2%. The Armenia Alliance was third with 9.9%.

Sunday's vote was the first general election since Armenia, a small South Caucasus country of three million people, suffered a crushing military defeat by Azerbaijan in 2023.

It was viewed as a test of the prime minister's push to deepen ties with the West while facing mounting economic pressure from Russia, its largest trading partner and traditional ally.

Pashinyan, who has been in power since 2018, declared victory on Monday after early results showed his party had secured more than 50% of the vote.

"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 were among European powers that congratulated Pashinyan, praising Armenia's closer ties with the West.

Civil Contract's success came despite Pashinyan's domestic support falling from 54% in 2021 to around 30% today, according to polls.

A total of 19 parties and alliances took part in the election but few of these earned enough votes to gain a seat in the national assembly. Turnout was 59%, the electoral 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 the 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 whether to join the EU or remain in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a customs bloc from which Armenia benefits.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin listed the economic benefits Armenia stood to lose if it pursued closer ties with the West - pointedly noting that "the crisis in Ukraine began with efforts to move toward EU accession".

Russia supplies Armenia with gas at $177.50 (£132.90) per 1,000 cubic metres, while European market prices, as Putin pointed out to Pashinyan in April, exceed $600.

In the two weeks preceding the election, Moscow banned the export of Armenian flowers, mineral water, cognac, fresh vegetables and fruit.

He also hosted a large summit of EU leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital, Yerevan, earlier this year.

Despite Pashinyan developing, good-natured relationship with European leaders, Armenia doesn't even have EU candidate status yet, and membership of the bloc is still a long way off.

His loss of 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 took it by force in 2023.

Pashinyan's critics have never forgiven him for making concessions in favour of peace with Azerbaijan, like refusing to campaign for the release of former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh who are in jail in the neighbouring country.

The peace deal with Azerbaijan, too, remains deeply divisive, with one recent poll showing 44% of public opinion in support and 41% opposed.

With additional reporting by Rayhan Demytrie, Caucasus correspondent