Armenia: Russia first, EU second?

Following constitutional changes, Armenians were set to go to the polls on 2 April 2017 to vote in parliamentary elections. What role does Russia play in the country's politics? And is there room to expand relations with the EU?

The elections would show the effects of the December 2015 amendments to the constitution, as well as recent changes in the electoral code which reduced the number of parliamentary seats from 131 to 101 and extended presidential terms from five to seven years. But with the country having shifted from a presidential to a parliamentary republic, the new parliament will be significantly more powerful than before. Moreover, the political system remains highly centralised, and President Serzh Sargsyan and his ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) were looking to safeguard the power they have accrued.

President Sargsyan promised that the elections would be more transparent and show improved levels of democracy. But it looked as if the RPA and the president would dominate political life in Armenia for some years to come. Regardless of the outcome, however, the increasingly anti-Russian mood within Armenian society was likely to pose a serious challenge to whoever forms the next government.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Armenian parliamentary election, 2017 http://www.europeansources.info/record/armenian-parliamentary-election-2017/

ESO: Background information: Armenia at Twenty-Five: A Rough Ride http://www.europeansources.info/record/armenia-at-twenty-five-a-rough-ride/

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