June 7, 2026, 11:56 amJune 7, 2026, 11:56 am
The parliamentary election in the South Caucasus republic of Armenia, which was accompanied by massive tensions with Russia, began with several arrests. In the city of Gyumri, police officers searched the office of the opposition party Strong Armenia of the pro-Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, according to media reports. According to police reports, the officers arrested more than ten people on charges of buying votes. Three members of a local election commission were also arrested that night.
The polling stations in the country have been open since 8 a.m. local time (6 a.m. CEST). According to the observations of a reporter from the German Press Agency, participation is lively. The Central Election Commission said that almost 15 percent of voters had voted by 11 a.m. local time (9 a.m. CEST). Among them was Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who wants to be confirmed in office for the third time. “Democracy always works in favor of regional and international cooperation and is an instrument for peace in the region,” he said.
Pashinyan is working on a peace treaty with neighboring Azerbaijan, against which Armenia lost a military conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region three years ago. The opposition accuses the head of government of treason in this context.
Relations with Russia overshadow the election
The government, in turn, accuses parts of the opposition of being in the service of the Kremlin. Tensions between Russia and Armenia have grown sharply in recent months because of Yerevan’s rapprochement with the EU. Moscow has imposed import bans on Armenian products and threatened to terminate a favorable gas supply contract.
A representative of the Armenian government accused Moscow of attempting to buy votes – Armenians living in Russia had flown to their homeland specifically for the election in order to vote for pro-Russian parties in exchange for compensation. The head of the OSCE observation mission, Farah Karimi, spoke of a “worrying polarization of the election campaign”. This was characterized by accusations and insults, she told the German Press Agency. (sda/dpa)