Category: News

Another tense incident was recorded within the pre-election meetings. The sharp debate between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and one of the citizens ended with the head of the government’s harsh threats to the former leaders and opponents.

The unexpected incident started when one of the crowd, who introduced himself as a candidate of sciences, approached Nikol Pashinyan and made direct accusations against him. The citizen accused the prime minister of stealing the motherland, destroying the built state and destroying an entire generation. In a very upset tone, the man noted that the authorities took away his family members, his brother, nephew and his own children, and also demanded clear answers regarding the fate of high-ranking officers who forcibly disappeared and went missing during the war.

In response to the heavy accusations, Nikol Pashinyan came out with highly emotional and aggressive rhetoric. He stated that they are trying to depress and “depress” him, but such attempts are doomed to failure. In his speech, the head of the government turned to direct threats addressed to the representatives of the former authorities.

Using street slang, he threatened to “kill” and “dismember” Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan, Gagik Tsarukyan and “Kalugatsi”. The Prime Minister also stated that the former looted the country under the name of Artsakh for years, and “Robert shot people”.

At the height of the tension, Pashinyan also referred to people filming videos with masks and Artsakh dialect on the Internet. Using insulting terms, he called these people “puppies” and “cowardly cowards”, claiming that they fled the battlefield in expensive cars in the heat of war, leaving the soldiers alone to face the enemy.

The Prime Minister promised to publicly tear off the masks of all of them and subject them to strict responsibility, adding in harsh language what he will do with those masks. He claimed that these persons are directly related to the circle of former leaders.

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The villagers are ready to work and get a high-quality harvest, but they are facing serious problems of water scarcity and procurement, while the authorities are busy praising themselves and making insulting remarks about the citizens.

The first number of the banner of the opposition “Strong Armenia” bloc Narek Karapetyan summarized the results of his visits to the RA marzes, presenting a harsh criticism of the economic and political working style of the government.

According to Narek Karapetyan, both positive and negative factors emerged during the visit to Armavir region. The positive thing is that the villagers are willing to work and grow fruits and vegetables that are in great demand and can be sold on profitable terms. However, the negative reality is that there are unsolved problems of water and procurement.

According to Karapetyan, the state has not solved economic issues. “The economy does not develop with asphalt alone, we need a good economic policy so that people can make profitable sales.”

The situation in Gegharkunik marz is considered much more acute due to high unemployment. Referring to the statements that there are not 300,000 workers in the country, Karapetyan advised to go to Gegharkunik, Shirak, Lori and Aragatsotn marzes and see with your own eyes how many people leave for foreign work (“khopan”). He emphasized that these people are actually ready to work.

In the political sphere, Karapetyan condemned the rhetoric of the authorities in recent days. He noted that the representatives of the government have started to use offensive wording in their speeches, the purpose of which is to show that they can oppress people or, as they stated, “tread on them”.

In this regard, Narek Karapetyan strongly opposed the government. “You have praised yourself a little, you cannot give a person a foothold. You can hold and give alone… You cannot do anything else in Armenia, you are the ministry of holding and giving alone.”

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In the Lori Marz of Armenia, law enforcement officers applied house arrest to a citizen accused of publicly insulting the support of the ruling party on social networks. This incident clearly demonstrates the legal consequences of exhibiting political intolerance in the digital domain.

The RA Investigative Committee informs about the initiation of criminal proceedings on the fact of intentional hooliganism committed on the Internet. According to preliminary investigation data, on May 9 of this year, the citizen involved in the case published a video containing obscene expressions on his Facebook page, accompanying it with a photo of a sixty-one-year-old man.

As the investigators of the Lori regional investigative department found out, the motive for the offense was exclusively political differences. A supporter of the ruling “Civil Pact” political force has become a target. The law enforcers described the actions of the user as intentional hooliganism using information technology, which shows a blatant disregard for universal moral norms and public order.

As of now, a public criminal prosecution has been officially initiated against the accused. House arrest was chosen as a preventive measure during the preliminary investigation. The investigation of the network incident continues, law enforcement agencies are studying in detail all the circumstances of the incident.

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To be honest, after May 4, I was left with a very unpleasant, bitter impression, when Ilham Aliyev, at least in kind, called our prisoners of war “war criminals” and the ethnic cleansing operation in Artsakh “restoration of territorial integrity” in the presence of participants of the European Political Community gathered in the heart of Yerevan.

A political slap that was wrapped in the rhetoric of peace.
We have already seen all this.

For decades, the dictator of Baku has perfected the art of speaking with Europe in the language of ultimatums. Aliyev simply accused the European Parliament of “sabotaging peace”, referring to 14 resolutions adopted in 5 years, and demonstrably froze cooperation with European institutions.

This whole “theater of one actor” was played out for both domestic and foreign audiences to clearly show that Baku is no longer defending itself, but is dictating terms to the West.

However, the most bitter and tragic thing is elsewhere: the European “peacemakers” pretended that it should be like that. They need Baku as an alternative source of gas, and for this they are ready to shake hands with the authoritarian leader for years, turning a blind eye to his bold rhetoric.

Western double standards and the current situation are dangerous for us.

While Prime Minister Pashinyan reassures the people with the mantra of “crossroads of peace”, the opponent acts very concretely and relentlessly.

Baku is systematically strengthening its military muscles. The defense budget for 2026 is 8.7 billion manats, almost 5 billion dollars, which is naturally intended to “pacify” Armenia.

And what is official Yerevan doing at the moment?

Reduces own defense costs by about 16 percent, effectively launching a unilateral disarmament process.

The peak of cynicism is the “West Azerbaijan” project. It has become a state strategy in Baku, with attempts to legalize it at the international level. When the “No West Azerbaijan” movement raises the alarm and gives the phenomena their real names, saying that it is a policy of demographic expansion of Azerbaijan under the guise of “return”, we are called “enemies of peace” and accused of undermining the settlement process.

But what kind of peace can we talk about when on June 18-19, immediately after our “fatal” elections, Baku has already planned a festival with the derisive name “Return to Western Azerbaijan”.

That is why the question posed in the title arises: elections or referendum? They are trying to put us in front of a false dilemma, presenting the June 7 vote as a “war or peace dilemma, and under “peace” is understood the unconditional acceptance of the road map brought down from Baku.

This is a scam. The real choice is far more dire: either we retain the last vestiges of sovereignty and the right to determine our own future, or we finally accept the humiliation of “West Azerbaijan”

Pashinyan’s strategy is based on a dangerous illusion, giving up Artsakh and “liberating” Russia, as if one can have a “bright European future” and security guarantees for the West.

But where are those guarantees? Where is Europe’s response to Aliyev’s cannibalistic statements in Yerevan?

There are none. There are only regular “paper” resolutions that lack political will, let alone security guarantees.

Those who say that if Pashinyan is re-elected on June 7, “Western Azerbaijan” is really waiting for us, are absolutely right.

We are offered beautiful words and promises without a strong army, without allies, without a clear state strategy.

June 7 is a referendum where the Armenian people will have to choose between the Republic of Armenia and “Western Azerbaijan”.

Political scientist Suren Surenyants

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Ahead of the elections, one of the most discussed topics in the Armenian society has become the issue of “dusting” of votes. The former vice-president of the National Assembly, Arpine Hovhannisyan, explained the mechanisms of the distribution of mandates with specific mathematical examples and called on the citizens to participate in the voting.

In his first message, the politician clearly denied the thesis that the votes given to the parties that did not pass the temporary threshold disappear. According to the legislation, the parliament must consist of at least 101 deputies. Hovhannisyan gave a hypothetical example of 100 voters, where 70 votes were distributed among the three leaders (40, 20 and 10), and the remaining 30 went to the backbenchers. According to the Electoral Code, these 30 “lost” votes are not canceled. they are proportionally redistributed among the victorious powers.

As a result, the leading party with 40 real votes receives a disproportionate share of the bonus seats, eventually reaching 58 parliamentary seats. This, according to the former deputy speaker, is precisely the “dusting”, when the votes of the smaller parties actually work in favor of strengthening the favorites in the race.

In his next statement, Hovhannisyan made another, more important adjustment. the greatest “dusting” occurs due to low participation. Refusal to go to the polls only means that the vote of the absentee citizen is mathematically redistributed in favor of the biggest political players.

The politician emphasized that there are at least three political forces in Armenia that are capable of overcoming the temporary threshold, so citizens who do not want to support the favorites should carefully study the programs of alternative parties that have a chance to enter the parliament.

Hovhannisyan also dispelled the widespread myth that this mathematical model is an innovation of the current Constitution, reminding that similar mandate distribution formulas with different variations have been used in Armenia since 1995.

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Ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections, the “New Power” party presented the economic bloc of its pre-election program. Prime Minister candidate Hayk Marutyan has promised to radically revise the recent tax reforms, doubling the turnover tax rate and returning preferential regimes for the service sector in order to stimulate the economic activity of the population.

In a video message published on social networks, Hayk Marutyan announced his intention to lower the turnover tax from the current ten percent to five percent. In addition, the politician plans to return specialized services to the turnover tax regime. Responding to concerns about the possible reduction of budget revenues, the party leader expressed confidence that the reduction of the tax burden will have the opposite effect.

According to him, the creation of comfortable financial conditions motivates people to work more, which will eventually lead to an organic increase in payments to the state treasury.

This initiative is a direct response to the amendments to the RA Tax Code that came into force in 2025. With that legislative package, the turnover tax for commercial activities was doubled. At the same time, a number of professional fields, including legal, accounting, consulting services, construction, real estate agencies, architecture and advertising, were forced into the field of value added taxation. The mechanisms for deducting expenses from the amount of turnover tax were also reviewed.

The softening of the fiscal policy is only one of the seven pillars of the pre-election program of the “New Power” party, which has registered a list of eighty-six candidates in the Central Electoral Commission.

The political manifesto also includes European integration as a foreign policy priority, a complete ban on online casinos, providing large-scale benefits to large families, providing free higher education, eliminating the statute of limitations for corruption crimes, and returning to national values. The pre-election campaign with the participation of nineteen political forces will continue until June 5.

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In the hot period of the pre-election campaign in Armenia, the representatives of the ruling party comment on the recent emotional incidents. Anahit Avanesyan, the Minister of Health, who is on vacation, defended the Prime Minister’s harsh rhetoric, accusing the political opponents of trying to divide Armenians and drag the country into a new war.

On May 18, during a meeting with voters in the Arabkir administrative district of the capital, Anahit Avanesyan touched on the sensitive topic of relations within the Armenian society. He emphasized that compatriots of Nagorno-Karabakh have always been in the center of attention and care of both ordinary citizens and the state institutions of Armenia. The minister called to prevent any attempt to drive a wedge between the Armenians of Artsakh and Armenia.

Commenting on the latest incident in which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan He had a heated debate with a voter on the subject of Nagorno-Karabakh, Avanesyan described the statements of the head of the government as harsh but justified. According to him, such reaction was a response to “semi-terrorist manifestations” by the opponents. The minister recalled the tragic events of October 27, 1999 and March 1, 2008, declaring that the era of terrorism in Armenia is irrevocably past, and no one is allowed to manipulate the feelings of citizens.

The representative of the ruling power strongly criticized the actions of the opposition. He accused the so-called “Karabakh clan” of promoting their own interests and trying to return the country to the logic of the conflict. According to Avanesyan, the three-headed war party is trying to drag Armenia into confrontation again, but the authorities give a clear answer: the era of conflicts is over, and the state is a supporter of peace.

At the same time, he expressed a negative attitude towards any call for violence and reminded that the leader of the ruling party has long been offering an open debate to all former leaders who have ever been responsible for the country.

Referring directly to the incident between Pashinyan and a local resident, who was accused by supporters of the government of carrying out the order of the opposition, Avanesyan did not see a problem in using the word “uncle” addressed to her. He noted that constructive criticism is welcome, but in this case the woman came to ask her question and was not ready to hear the Prime Minister’s answer.

This episode was another expression of a series of tense dialogues and clashes at pre-election meetings, where political contradictions often turn into public threats and accusations.

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A political scandal is brewing in Armenia over an anonymous video message in which masked persons threaten Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In response, the head of the government delivered an unprecedentedly harsh speech, promising to find the authors of the video and accusing his main political opponents of organizing the provocation.

The incident started with the publication of a video on social networks, in which unknown persons speaking in the Artsakh dialect, masked their faces, addressed the Prime Minister. They accused the head of the government of deceiving the people, handing over the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and being ready to cede the sovereign lands of Armenia itself.

The authors of the message stated that they know the movement routes of the politician, accompanying their words with direct threats.

Nikol Pashinyan the response was not late and was heard during one of the pre-election rallies. The prime minister promised in a very tough and emotional way to find out the identity of the persons seen in the video and to bring them to justice.

Using street slang, the head of the government called the video’s authors deserters who left the soldiers alone, and promised to tear off their masks and “take them down”. He called on anonymous persons to voluntarily surrender to law enforcement agencies.

The situation took on an even sharper political tone when the Prime Minister linked the emergence of this video to his main opponents.

Without presenting facts, Pashinyan publicly announced that the supporters of the second and third presidents of the republic, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, as well as big businessmen Samvel Karapetyan and Gagik Tsarukyan, are behind the masked persons. The head of the government threatened this entire circle with harsh measures.

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Despite the complex political background, trade and economic contacts between Baku and Yerevan show some dynamics due to the use of transit routes. During the first four months of 2026, the volume of exports from Azerbaijan to the Armenian market reached the limit of 9.6 million US dollars.

According to the official statistical data of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, which were published by local mass media, the volume of recorded deliveries is 0.08 percent of the country’s total exports during the specified period. Trade cooperation between the countries is carried out mainly by using the logistics capabilities of neighboring Georgia.

In this context, the transit of energy carriers in December was a significant event. At that time, a large railway rolling stock consisting of twenty-two wagons arrived in Armenia for the first time through the territory of Georgia, which delivered around 1300 tons of fuel produced by the Azerbaijani state energy company Socar.

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The appeal criminal court of RA rejected the appeal of the defense attorney of the Russian citizen seeking asylum, leaving unchanged the coercive measure of medical nature applied to the man accused of hooliganism. The court made such a decision based on the lack of medical documents certifying the improvement of the health condition.

The incident, on the basis of which criminal proceedings were initiated, took place in mid-July last year. According to the case materials, while in the departure hall of the “Zvartnots” international airport, the foreigner grossly violated the public order. Showing a clear contemptuous attitude towards the environment and moral norms, he threw a bottle of alcoholic drink in the direction of the benches, and also uttered curses and obscene expressions directed at Armenian women, the nation and RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Such aggressive actions disturbed the peace of passengers and the normal operation of the airport.

On charges of hooliganism, the court imposed medical supervision as a security measure, the term of which was extended in April of this year until June 10. The accused’s lawyer appealed against this decision, arguing that his client’s mental state has improved significantly, so there is no longer any need for a coercive measure.

The appellate court, however, recorded that the defense did not present any medical certificate documenting the improvement, effectively depriving the court of the opportunity to evaluate the circumstance. As a result, the presence of grounds and conditions for continuing the surveillance was recorded. At present, the Russian citizen continues to stay in one of the mental health centers of the RA Ministry of Health.

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