Pashinyan says Armenia retains full sovereignty over borders and customs connt

A campaign rally of the ruling Civil Contract party in Kotayk province concluded in the city of Abovyan with an open-air gathering that began with the Armenian national anthem.

The vacationing Prime Minister of Armenia and chairman of the Civil Contract board, Nikol Pashinyan, opened his speech with Psalm 31 and described the Armenia-United States document initialed on May 26 as “historic”.

Referring to a passage in the text stating that Armenia retains full sovereignty and jurisdiction over its borders and customs functions, Pashinyan said this, in his words, “answers all slanderers”.

“There is no ‘corridor’ topic, and there has never been one. It is the three-headed war party that, through foreign intelligence activity, has continuously brought this narrative to the public square in an attempt to intimidate the Armenian people and pursue regime change in that logic,” he said.

He further claimed that the same actors were attempting to promote the idea of the return of 300,000 Azerbaijanis.

At one point, Pashinyan said he initially believed such narratives were spread by “madness”, but added that, in his assessment, they were “not mad, but cold-blooded agents”, accusing what he called the “three-headed war party” of working against Armenia’s interests.

According to him, the issue of any return of Azerbaijanis is “another intelligence operation” aimed at disrupting Armenia’s transition “from a deadlock of conflict to a crossroads of peace”. He added: “On June 7, 2026, this should be decapitated by the Armenian people.”

Pashinyan also said that the topic had been closed, alongside what he described as the closure of the Karabakh movement chapter.

Addressing people from Karabakh present at the rally, he said: “Dear Karabakh Armenians, you were held hostage for 30 years so that you and we could be used for dismantling Armenia’s statehood and for fragmenting the country, in the logic of the Lachin corridor in order to obtain a corridor through Meghri. But we have stopped that process, fundamentally defending Armenia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders. Today, Armenia is more independent than ever.”

Nikol Pashinyan also said that since 2023, the state has allocated 200 billion drams for people displaced from Karabakh, adding that around 6,000 families have already received housing purchase certificates.

The campaign for Armenia’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 7, formally began on May 8 and will run until June 5. A total of 19 political forces – two alliances and 17 parties – are taking part.

Civil Contract is contesting the election under number 16 with the slogan “Stand up for peace”. The party has submitted a proportional list of 283 candidates, as well as a separate list of 10 candidates representing national minorities. Its prime ministerial candidate is Nikol Pashinyan.