The victory of Nikol Pashinyan’s ruling party in the parliamentary elections was severely criticized in Moscow. In the State Duma of the Russian Federation, they spoke about unprecedented violations during the voting and warned about the risks of the final severance of military-political ties between the countries, up to the withdrawal of the Russian military base.

According to the preliminary data of the Central Electoral Commission, after summarizing the results of all precincts, the “Civil Agreement” party received 49.81 percent of the votes. This figure is the current prime minister Nikol Pashinyan reserves the right to single-handedly form a new government to a political force. However, the results of the elections in Moscow were received with extreme skepticism.

First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Konstantin Zatulin In an interview given to the RTVI TV channel, he severely criticized the election process. The Russian parliamentarian expressed deep doubts about the legitimacy of the held elections, pointing out the unprecedented use of administrative resources by the authorities, mass arrests and gross violations of democratic procedures.

Evaluating the geopolitical prospects, Zatulin predicted the further separation of Yerevan from Moscow. According to him, remaining in power of the current leadership will lead to the final abandonment of Armenia’s military and political obligations towards Russia. The deputy emphasized that such a course will inevitably bring the issue of the future presence of the Russian military base in Gyumri to the agenda.

Referring to the economic sphere, the parliamentarian accused the Armenian authorities of conducting a policy of double standards. He reminded that against the background of freezing of membership in the CSTO, Yerevan is not in a hurry to leave the Eurasian Economic Union out of momentary financial gain.

At the same time, as the deputy notes, the Armenian authorities ignore the warnings of the Russian side that the modern European Union is increasingly turning into a militarized structure. Concluding the speech, Zatulin expressed his belief that the internal political pressures against the opposition in Armenia will only increase, although, according to his estimates, a significant part of the society does not share the current foreign policy course of the government.

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