Among EU officials, the Brussels rationale has hardened into doctrine: “Pashinyan is taking Armenia away from Russia.” That sentence has become the whole of EU policy toward Yerevan. It is also a strategic error, one that is making Armenia less democratic and less safe at the same time without loosening Russia’s grip.
Suppressing political opponents in the lead-up to last month’s elections, Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan has accrued some enemies at home. Brussels, meanwhile, is pushing an exemption for tariffs on 80 percent of Armenian exports.
Incumbent PM Nikol Pashinyan built a campaign on stability and peace in the region. His win is a blow to Russian influence in the South Caucasus, but what happens next?
Stuck in a tug of war between Russia and the EU, Armenians are heading to the polls without much outlook for internal affairs, as remnants of a displacement crisis and civil liberty concerns loom unaddressed.
“If the European Union accepts us, we will be happy and enthusiastic about it,” said Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan at a first-ever EU-Armenia summit.
“The international order will be rebuilt … out of Europe,” said Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, in a sequel to his Davos speech.
The EU has built its identity around the export of democratic norms: rule-of-law conditionality, election-monitoring, civil society support. In Armenia, six weeks before the country’s most consequential parliamentary elections in a generation, the EU is deploying all of those tools — and aiming every one of them at the wrong target.
THIS WEEK: Armenia plays host, as Canada’s Carney brings ‘middle power’ strategy to EuropeArmenia is hosting the eighth edition of the European Political Community (EPC) on Monday, where Canada’s Mark Carney is expected to attend. The EPC will be followed by the first-ever EU-Armenia summit on Tuesday.
“One of the archbishops in Armenia had started a movement to [reactivate] … the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict”, warned Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan.
THIS WEEK: MEPs vote on deportation bill, as Iran war keeps Europe on edgeMEPs prepare to vote on a controversial deportation bill while debates intensify over Europe’s security amid the Iran war. Armenia’s prime minister addresses parliament, ministers tackle labour shortages and EU finances, and tensions rise over Ukraine funding as Hungary threatens a veto ahead of next week’s EU summit.