Ahead of the June elections, Armenia’s ruling “Civil Contract” party published a political plan calling for the removal of the Catholicos of All Armenians and outlining a politicized “roadmap” for the reconstruction of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

According to critics, this unprecedented step is a direct violation of the country’s constitution and a drastic state intervention in religious affairs. writes the International Christian Concern (International Christian Concern, ICC)։

The program published before the upcoming elections mentions the removal of the “actual head” of the Armenian Apostolic Church as its 10th political goal, referring to Catholicos Garegin II. Notably, the document avoids using his ecclesiastical title, which observers say reflects a broader effort to undermine both the position and the institution.

In addition to the leadership change, the party’s program proposes a series of wide-ranging church reforms, including the appointment of a vicar of the Catholicos, the development of a new Church charter and the eventual election of a new Catholicos under revised structures. The proposed charter would introduce mechanisms for financial oversight and clerical discipline, areas traditionally governed by the Church.

Legal experts and defenders of religious freedom warn that such proposals are a direct political interference in the internal management of a religious body. The Constitution of Armenia recognizes the exceptional role of the Armenian Apostolic Church in national life and enshrines the principle of separation between the Church and the state.

This dual framework is further reinforced by the 2007 Law on Church-State Relations, which clearly recognizes the Church’s right to self-governance. Critics argue that any attempt by a political party to preempt leadership changes or impose structural reforms violates those protections.

As noted, tensions have escalated significantly over the past year, and the government has become more hostile in its efforts to limit the Church’s independence.

More than 90% of the population identifies with the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has long served as a cornerstone of national identity, particularly during periods of foreign rule and genocide.

Historically, attempts to establish political control over the Church have been associated with external forces, including the Soviet authorities, who sought to limit religious influence. Critics warn that the current proposals repeat those earlier efforts, raising concerns about the future of religious freedom in the country.

If the ruling party secures an electoral victory, it can later claim a public mandate to implement proposed changes, including interference in Church governance, despite the lack of a clear public debate on the issue.

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The upcoming elections in Armenia, during which the next prime minister will be appointed, may have significant consequences for the European Union, particularly in the context of its fragile relations with Russia. writes Brussels Signal.

The June 7 vote may mean a decisive geopolitical shift. This can create a new western turn in the post-Soviet space.

Officials of the RA government talk more and more often about the European aspirations of the country. Pashinyan’s victory in the upcoming elections will likely strengthen this direction, bringing Armenia closer to the EU and strengthening its ongoing geopolitical realignment towards the West.

The EU has expressed its support for Armenia’s current trajectory and its pro-European orientation.  Against this background, 2 forms of strong competition emerge. on the one hand, internal opposition forces. A section of the public, religious circles and political opposition is mobilizing against the government’s current path, while some international observers are increasingly warning of the perceived illiberal drift at home that this new geopolitical path is said to be based on.

At the political level, opposition forces argue that while the government advocates closer alignment with the EU and the US, Turkey, Armenia’s historical rival and Azerbaijan’s main ally, effectively represents Western interests in the region as a NATO member.

From this point of view, the combination of the turn towards the West and the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan risks turning Armenia into a Turkish protectorate, undermining its sovereignty. For many, Russia’s continued presence in the region is still seen as a counterweight that prevents over-dependence on Ankara.

At the level of political freedoms, instead, significant contradictions have arisen over recent developments related to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Church has historically acted as the main defender of the Armenian language, culture and collective continuity. In recent months, the Armenian government has arrested several high-ranking Church figures amid criticism of the authorities and government claims that some sections of the church hierarchy are aligned with Russian interests.

For the current government, the influence of the Church is increasingly viewed from a political and geopolitical perspective.

When sending reports to the US Congress at the end of 2025, human rights defenders warned that the actions against high-ranking members of the Armenian Apostolic Church could be considered political pressure against the background of the intensification of the internal power struggle. Similarly, Armenian and diaspora-related organizations have criticized what they see as a weakening of checks and balances, arguing that increased executive influence over the judiciary and religious matters could run counter to Armenia’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The outcome of the June 2026 elections could be decisive in determining Armenia’s long-term geopolitical trajectory, which Pashinyan frames as a fundamental choice between war and peace.

The opposition, most of which is united around the Church, instead views the vote as a matter of national security.

The stakes for the EU are equally delicate. how to combine the strategic support of Armenia’s geopolitical reorientation with the risk that this very trajectory may be accompanied by an increase in internal institutional concentration and democratic instability?

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For the Armenians of Artsakh, it was expected that after Azerbaijan completely occupied Artsakh, it would do everything to erase the Armenian trace, because this is the handwriting of Azerbaijan. However, the RA leader’s statement that he will not try to make the issue of Azerbaijan’s cultural genocide a subject of discussion at the state level is incomprehensible and absurd for them.

Artsakh cultural heritage ombudsman, Caucasus expert Hovik Avanesov calls Nikol Pashinyan’s statement absurd, says that he represents an entire country, it is not permissible to say such things in public.

“These statements of Nikol Pashinyan and all the steps resulting from them fit into the logic of the so-called “peace” agenda, and declaring that they will not do anything against Azerbaijani crimes in order not to interfere with that agenda is at least diplomatic naivety.

First of all, there has never been and never will be a “peace” agenda in Azerbaijan, there are many proofs of this, starting from the cultural vandalism in Artsakh to the occupation of the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia.

These statements and steps of Nikol Pashinyan will lead to the fact that the cases of cultural genocide recorded in occupied Artsakh will significantly increase.” 168.amHovik Avanesov said in a conversation with

According to our interlocutor, Azerbaijan organizes large-scale events in the permanently occupied Artsakh, which are followed by the destruction and destruction of cultural monuments. Moreover, when people from different countries of the world go to Artsakh and give Aliyev some kind of award, Azerbaijan is more motivated by this and starts to act recklessly and destroy the Armenian footprint.

“I am afraid that if we do not stop all this, we will have a second Nakhijevan. And under these conditions, not making the issue a topic of discussion at the state level contributes to the promotion of that policy, which is, of course, unacceptable. Today, the opposite should have happened: any case of vandalism in Artsakh should have been reported at the state level.

While the government of Armenia is silent, the government of Azerbaijan is acting and accusing the Armenian side of committing cultural genocide. In other words, having at least such a parallel on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, the approach of the Armenian authorities should have been different, a harsh response should have been given to all this,” added Hovik Avanesov.

According to him, not only the issue of the destruction of cultural monuments in Artsakh after 2020, but also all those cases that Azerbaijan carried out in Nakhichevan before that, when it razed an entire civilized culture to the ground, should have appeared on the international agenda at the state level today.

“Nikol Pashinyan’s statements are very dangerous and may have serious consequences for the works dedicated to the preservation of our historical and cultural heritage. This will further complicate the work of specialists dealing with the field, because when the problem is raised, the foreign delegate may retort that “if everything is correct, why is there no official response from RA?”

The Mother See of St. Etchmiadzin issued a statement and speaks about it on various international platforms, but the statement expressed by the Church is different, the official political statement is different,” said Artsakh’s cultural heritage ombudsman.

He said that regardless of Nikol Pashinyan’s statements, specialists and interested persons should continue to work actively to save the remaining monuments of Artsakh, otherwise, like the khachkars of Nakhijevan, all of them will disappear after a while.

“Of course, the work for us becomes more complicated under these conditions, but regardless of the created situation, otherwise the minor processes that are taking place today on this or that international platform may be stopped to our detriment. Moreover, I think that under these conditions we are obliged to multiply our efforts even more,” emphasized Hovik Avanesov.

Let’s remind that on April 23, Nikol Pashinyan said in a briefing with journalists that he is not going to make the policy of destroying cultural monuments in Artsakh by Azerbaijan a subject of discussion at the state level. According to Nikol Pashinyan, if they talk about this, a war will be started with Azerbaijan.

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He was in Azerbaijan these days located Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. It should be noted that Azerbaijan is the largest supplier of oil to the Czech Republic, accounting for 42 percent of imports. But Babish and Aliyev did not only discuss issues of cooperation in the gas and energy sector, the military sector was also on the agenda.

“Another important area of ​​cooperation between our countries is the defense industry. Here, too, there is long-term successful cooperation. We also buy quite a lot of military products from the Czech Republic, and at the current stage negotiations are underway on specific projects for the organization of joint production. I am sure that this sector will also be large-scale, because Azerbaijan ensures its defense potential, including at the expense of local production. And in the future, our cooperation with countries like the Czech Republic, which has a lot of experience in this field, is of special importance.” The President of Azerbaijan announced during a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.

Azerbaijani sources leaked https://haqqin.az/newsarchive/382424 that a new joint venture (VEXA DS) is to be opened in Azerbaijan by the CSG group of the Czech defense industry.

The company has been engaged in maintenance, repair and modernization of military equipment for many years and prefers projects that promise long-term benefits.

Let’s remind that at the end of 2025 we reported that Aliyev intends to acquire automatic artillery systems from Slovakia, and that Azerbaijan and Slovakia intend to start cooperation in the field of self-propelled artillery installations, ammunition production; Slovakian technology plus Azerbaijani money.

Already in February of this year 168.amthe reported that the mentioned becomes effective. Slovakia and Azerbaijan signed a big deal.

We are talking about a framework contract worth 210 million euros, by which SAM-120 automatic mortars will be supplied, and as the Minister of Defense of Slovakia Robert Kaliniak informed, the first batch of supplies will include 96 units of mortars.

And in 2024? 168.am also to write is that Azerbaijan continues to change the caliber of its artillery from Soviet to NATO, and that the Azerbaijani armed forces have received the first batch of L-45 DITA 155 mm self-propelled howitzers ordered from Slovakia.

The DITA L-45 howitzer was developed on the basis of the DANA self-propelled howitzer still produced in Czechoslovakia. Moreover, the Czech-made RM-70 Vampire rocket launcher system and the DANA self-propelled artillery system were used by Azerbaijan in the 44-day war.  In the period before that already it turned out that arms from the Czech Republic and Slovakia reached Azerbaijan with the help of Israel.

And in 2018, Armenia visited Czech officials on various occasions informed that Czech-made Dana self-propelled howitzers and RM-70 multiple rocket launchers arrived from Slovakia to Israel and then to Azerbaijan. And at that time, even the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Czech Republic in Armenia admitted that those selling them did not have the permission of the Czech authorities.

In 2019, at that time, Slovakia’s Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Miroslav Lajcak visited Armenia and held a joint press conference with RA Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, drawing his attention to the fact that their weapons are not arriving in Azerbaijan directly, but mediated, through third countries, particularly through Israel.

“There was a separate agreement between Slovakia and Israel, there were separate documents, in which it was stated that the final recipient is Israel. We discussed this issue several times with Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. I think the case is closed. We have explained everything in detail to each other, we have understood each other, I think that this discussion has stopped and will not continue, and the contract has also been terminated,” assured Lajchak.

But the same Lajcak was among the guests of honor at the Baku military parade dedicated to the 5th year of the Azerbaijani victory in the 44-day war, there were also other officials from Slovakia.

In other words, nothing changes in Aliyev’s military plans, and he continues to cooperate with the countries he cooperated with before the 44-day war, immediately after it, and now he is bringing this cooperation to a strategic level. In this case, we are talking about Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

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“Five questions to the next Prime Minister Samvel Karapetyan. what will he do with a salary of 1 dram?  The series of interviews with the leader of the “Strong Armenia” party, philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan continues with Alik Aleksanyan, a member of the same party.

Samvel Karapetyan, referring to the arrest of Kandaz, a well-known detective from his team, responded: “Under this government, all patriotic people will be targeted. We must be ready when this government fulfills the demands of the outsiders, specifically Aliyev’s demands. All patriotic people are targeted. What Aliyev and Azerbaijan could not do in 30 years, the government of Armenia did it by their order, but soon, after our victory, the heroes will become heroes again.”

To the next question, whether you have any plans for the first session of the Government and how Samvel Karapetyan will spend his 1 dram salary, he answered:

“Since Pashinyan will not have a chance to receive bonuses after June 7, I will suggest that “varchabend” continue its activities, I will transfer 1 dram to “varchabend” every month. If, of course. accept it themselves, maybe they already have a lot of money?’

More details in the video.

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At the end of last year, it was decided to “disarm” the Border Guard troops under the Kirantsi wall. We have an article with the title “The joint political show of Pashinyan and the military leadership”. to publish where we referred to the following statement of Kirantz Nikol Pashinyan.

“The border guard troops of Armenia and Azerbaijan have started their service in this area, but after the border demarcation, they came out of the trenches, that is, they are visible to each other. Then, after a while, there was an agreement, and the body armor and helmets were taken off. In the third stage, it was agreed that the automatic machines should be without a magazine.

We drew attention to the fact that the level of armament of the border guard troops of Azerbaijan differs from the level of armament of the border guard troops of the Republic of Armenia, and this has its reasons.

In particular, the fact that the border guard service of Azerbaijan has been active since December 2018 undertake protection of the Kazakh and Aghstafa sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border (the districts border the Tavush marz) by replacing army units. And before that, in 2017, it was significant in the structure of the state border guard service of Azerbaijan in general changes were implemented, individual commands were added.

More in 2019 “Armenpress” wrote that it was the border guard service of Azerbaijan that tried to emerge in the inter-positional area and occupy a new terrain near the Papakar hill. It is a different matter that the 3rd Army Corps of the RA Armed Forces of that time was able to prevent it. We say this so that you can imagine the capability of the border guard troops of Azerbaijan, which has a rapid reaction force under its command, which actively participated in the 44-day war.

Fip.amaccording to the report of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in 2020 of study According to the Azerbaijan Border Guard Service, there are infantry fighting vehicles (BMP-1/BMP-2), armored personnel carriers (BTR-60/70/80), rocket launchers (122mm 3 T-122), attack helicopters (24 Mi-35M Hind) and unmanned aerial vehicles (Medium Hermes 900).

From the 2021 study of the same institute, we learn that the armament of the border guard service of Azerbaijan was supplemented with “Hermes 450” and “Harop” type drones. And in 2022? of study According to this, an aircraft (Light 40 An-2 Colt) and a new type of unmanned aerial vehicle have been added to the armament of the Border Guard Service of Azerbaijan. (SkyStriker): 

It is no less important that the rapid response forces of the State Border Guard Service of Azerbaijan also participated in the 44-day war of 2020, in the operations to capture Jrakan (Jebrail), Varanda (Fizuli), Zangelan (Kovsakan). This speaks of serious experience. On one occasion we wrote, that the unit of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Azerbaijan (“Yarasa”) also participated in the 2020 war. During the 44-day military operations, “Yarasa” personnel operated in the rear of the Armenian army and participated in the capture of settlements, particularly in the Kubatli (Orotan) sector.

And Nikol Pashinyan has already repeated his dangerous statement mentioned above at the event organized on the occasion of the formation day of the National Security Service’s border guard troops on April 27 of this year: noting: 

“We have a demarcated and demarcated 12-kilometer border section with Azerbaijan, where the border guard troops of the Republic of Armenia carry out service. Those 12 kilometers of the border between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan are the only part where the representatives of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan carry out their service without helmets, without body armor and with the magazines of the rifles not on the rifles, but in bags.

But this time, Pashinyan has gone even further and “declassified” another intention leading to the reduction of the role of the army.

“We don’t notice this subtlety either, but for tens of years, our army spends most of its service in trenches, in positions whose conditions are not the best due to the circumstances we know. Of course, massive construction and engineering works are being carried out on the borders, but our goal is that at X time we will also hand over those fortified regions to the border guard troops, so that the border guard troops can also carry out service in those places. Of course, this will happen in conditions of complete peace, “toward which we are certainly walking more and more confidently every month, every week, every day.”

I wonder if RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan is aware of this, that the fortified regions with which these years or in February of this year was proud can be taken from the army. By the way, they are built taking into account the possible tasks to be performed by the armed forces, and they are not intended only for defense with various firearms, there can also be other samples of weapons and military equipment, there are sections intended for them.

“Depending on the terrain, the fortified regions have the possibility of circular defense. They are protected from drones and are quite strong in their structure. They can potentially ensure the vitality of our soldiers during the battle and provide an opportunity to protect the borders of our country from a more advantageous position,” the minister from Pashinyan’s party detailed in the video about the fortified regions in February.

Earlier, during the press conference called at the beginning of this year, Suren Papikyan also proudly noted that in 2025, the capital expenditures of the Ministry of Defense amounted to more than 57 billion 702 million drams.

“Capital expenditures in 2018 amounted to about 17 billion 718 million drams, and I will talk about the capital expenditures of the Ministry of Defense in 2025, which amounted to 57 billion 702 million 154 thousand drams. This, of course, ensures both the construction of fortification structures and the construction of the barracks fund, and, of course, the constructions carried out in other directions of life support, including repairs, and to put it mildly, this is also telling in the context of numbers,” he continued.

Turns out we weren’t actually wrong on one occasion we have noticedDoes Pashinyan see a problem in the concept of the transformation of the army, because even in the concept written at the time, the army is not assigned a reserve role, which is present in the KP pre-election program, under which Suren Papikyan also signed, which implies that at this moment Pashinyan will take the fortified regions from the army and hand them over directly to the border guard troops of the National Security Service under his control, then maybe at this moment the matter will also reach the army or the military equipment. who knows…

The sad thing is that, parallel to this, populist and unprofessional thoughts related to the army are also voiced by the opposition forces.

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The head of the security team of the “Strong Armenia” party, the legendary detective Arthur Avanesyan, Kandaz, was detained for 2 months. Lawyer Aram Vardevanyan conveyed the information in the courtyard of the anti-corruption court.

Earlier we reported that the Anti-Corruption Committee arrested the head of the security team of Samvel Karapetyan’s “Strong Armenia” party, Artur Avanesyan, a participant in the Artsakh wars, known by the nickname Kandaz.

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In a few days, the nature of the 8th European Political Community Summit in Yerevan may change qualitatively if the President of Ukraine Vl. Zelensky.

In Nikol Pashinyan’s plans, this was certainly the key event of his pre-election campaign. That’s how it was planned, that’s how it was negotiated, that’s how it’s planned.

After the unexpected visit to Azerbaijan on April 25, there is a high probability that Zelensky will also come to Yerevan. And that significantly changes the profound and PR content of the Yerevan event. No matter how strange it may seem, Pashinyan personally suffers the most from Zelensky’s possible visit to this event.

Zelensky in Yerevan means that he becomes the main actor with his image, his war, his objective state of being more interesting to Europe.

Zelensky in Yerevan means turning Armenia into the epicenter of anti-Russian sentiment for a few days.

Zelensky in Yerevan means to cause undisguised irritation with his statements in at least three neighboring states (Iran, Georgia, even Turkey).

If, however, within the framework of the 8th European Political Community Summit, Zelensky arrives in Yerevan and participates in the work, the atmosphere around Armenia and in Armenia will change. Russia’s reaction will not be late. Russia is in a direct war with Ukraine, and in the event of anti-Russian manifestations (especially in the case of calls for the creation of new anti-Russian platforms) it will take certain countermeasures. Armenian voters will also feel it.

European leaders are deeply indifferent to the possible consequences for Armenia, we have seen it with our own eyes in the last 5-6 years, Zelensky is unlikely to miss the opportunity to PR in front of the European Community, and the European elite will gladly make anti-Russian demonstrations in Yerevan. What will Armenia gain from all this: new problems. The paradox is that in the case of such a “rasklad”, when the main actor is changed, Pashinyan does not benefit either.

They will go to their countries after beautiful, sharp speeches to deal with their most serious internal problems. We will get a new reality with a high potential for tension, and therefore also certain changes in internal moods.
 
Vahe Hovhannisyan
Alternative projects group

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“Strong Armenia” party coordinator Narek Karapetyan on his Facebook page wrote: “There will be an amnesty in a strong Armenia.”

Let’s remind that the last time there was an amnesty in Armenia was in 2018, after Nikol Pashinyan came to power. Before that, there was an amnesty in 2013. on October 3.

Nikol Pashinyan granted amnesty 5 years after the last amnesty, but here now, 8 years after his announced amnesty, he refuses to discuss the issue, and the Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan email notes that there is no need for amnesty, and this is when the situation in the penitentiary institutions is catastrophic as a result of Nikol Pashinyan’s repressions and “bright” social indicators.

Let’s also remind that months ago, he was the leader of the “I have an honor” opposition faction of the National Assembly Hayk Mamijanyan appeared with a proposal to declare amnesty, which, however, was rejected.

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