- Satenik Kaghzvantsian
An Armenian civic group has accused the ruling Civil Contract party of forcing schoolteachers and kindergarten workers to attend a pre-election concert in Gyumri organized by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Sunday.
Joined by professional musicians, Pashinian and his self-styled pop band performed at the open-air concert in the city’s central square in a clear effort to drum up and/or showcase public support for him ahead of the parliamentary elections slated for June 7.
The premier arrived in the capital of Armenia’s northwestern Shirak province in a motorcade of hundreds of cars carrying his loyalists. The square was only about half full during the show, however, leading Pashinian’s political opponents and some media to conclude that most Gyumri residents ignored the publicity stunt one year after voting to end Civil Contract’s control of their municipality.
An RFE/RL correspondent saw many local government officials from other parts of the country in the crowd. According to Akanates (Witness), an independent group specializing in election monitoring, the spectators also included staff from public schools and kindergartens in Akhurian, a small town just east of Gyumri.
Akanates claimed that they were ordered by Civil Contract’s Gyumri branch to attend the event. Its coordinator, Meri Minasian, on Monday based the claim on the groups “direct monitoring” as well as information received from multiple sources not disclosed by her.
“We have information from several sources about people’s organized participation in the event,” Minasian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Davit Arushanian, the Shirak governor and the ruling party’s regional election campaign manager, flatly denied the Akanates claims. He argued, in particular, that the Civil Contract chapter in Gyumri does not cover Akhurian.
“There was no such coercion or pressure,” insisted Hayk Rushanian, who runs one of Akhurian’s three schools.
Rushanian admitted that he went to Pashinian’s concert together with his schoolteachers, students and their parents.
Pashinian and his party have for years been accused of illegally forcing public sector employees to attend their campaign rallies or other gatherings. They have always denied that.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities are only known to have prosecuted opposition figures on corresponding charges. Billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s opposition movement, which is expected to be Civil Contract’s main election challenger, has been on the receiving end of such criminal proceedings in recent months. As recently as on Monday, police rounded up 22 people in the northern Lori province on suspicion of attending or having others attend a pro-Karapetian rally in Yerevan for money or under duress. They all were set free without charge.
—
Ruben Vardanyan Again Blasts Armenian Government
Ruben Vardanyan, a prominent businessman remaining in Azerbaijani captivity along with at least 18 other Armenian prisoners, has accused Armenia’s government of being indifferent to their fate.
In a statement circulated through his family on Tuesday, he also called on the Armenian human rights ombudswoman, Anahi Manasian, to visit the prisoners together with their relatives.
“The failure of the Government of Armenia to act in the interests of its own citizens unlawfully held in Azerbaijan is incompatible with the obligations of the state towards its people,” charged Vardanyan.
“Despite the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries, economic negotiations are currently taking place, with Armenian representatives physically present in Baku,” he said. “Why, then, are questions of the life, health, and rights of prisoners not part of official Yerevan’s agenda — and why has not a single member of any delegation ever visited the detainees?”
“In light of the above, I urge you to consider organizing a visit to Baku with your participation, and, under appropriate conditions, with the participation of relatives of Armenian prisoners as well. My wife, Veronika Zonabend, has expressed her readiness to take part in such a trip, as have, in all likelihood, representatives of other families,” he added, appealing to Manasian.
In Vardanyan’s words, Manasian’s Azerbaijani counterpart, Sabina Aliyeva, has “expressed readiness to facilitate such a visit.” He revealed that he met with Aliyeva recently to raise with her concerns regarding his and the other captives’ prison conditions.
Vardanyan, who held the second-highest post in Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership from November 2022 to February 2023, was arrested at an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin corridor in September 2023 as he fled the region along with its practically entire ethnic Armenian population. Seven other former Karabakh Armenian leaders were also arrested during the exodus that followed an Azerbaijani military offensive.
Five of them were sentenced to life imprisonment while the two others as well as Vardanyan received 20-year jail sentences in February at the end of yearlong trials denounced by Amnesty International as a “travesty.” They all denied a long list of accusations brought against them.
The Armenian government has still not officially reacted to the trials, stoking opposition allegations about its complicity in the continuing captivity of these and 11 other Armenians held in Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other Armenian officials insist that Yerevan has been doing its best to try to secure their release. Vardanyan’s American lawyer, Jared Genser, has repeatedly disputed those claims.
Pashinian was accused by his domestic critics of helping Baku legitimize Vardanyan’s continuing imprisonment with his scathing comments about the 57-year-old billionaire and philanthropist made in August 2024. Vardanyan hit back at Pashinian from an Azerbaijani jail in September 2024. In another statement circulated by his family in March 2025, he criticized the Armenian government’s appeasement policy towards Azerbaijan and accused it of spreading hate speech against the Karabakh Armenians.
—
RFE/RL – More Armenian Churches In Karabakh Feared Destroyed By Azerbaijan
- Susan Badalian
Azerbaijani authorities appear to have demolished Nagorno-Karabakh’s main Armenian cathedral and another church in Stepanakert, according to online imagery cited by exiled Karabakh activists in Yerevan.
One of them, Sergei Shahverdian, showed on Monday fresh videos of central Stepanakert posted by Azerbaijani social media users. The Karabakh capital’s imposing Holy Mother of God Cathedral was not visible in them.
“Artsakh’s Mother Cathedral at the top of Nelson Stepanian Street is missing. The same video also shows it missing from another angle,” said Shahverdian, who had served as Karabakh’s culture minister and now runs a nongovernmental organization campaigning for the preservation of the depopulated region’s cultural and spiritual heritage.
“It’s obvious that the Azerbaijanis have destroyed it,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The information could not be confirmed from independent sources. The Azerbaijani government has blocked independent media access to Karabakh since its recapture of the territory in 2023. Shahverdian said he is now awaiting satellite images to conclude definitively whether the cathedral has been demolished.
The cathedral was consecrated in 2019 after almost 13 years of construction. Its underground section was used by many Stepanakert residents as a bomb shelter during the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
News of its apparent disappearance came just days after Armenian media published photographs suggesting that another, smaller Armenian church in Stepanakert has been razed to the ground. According to Lernik Hovannisian, who heads the Diocesan Council of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Azerbaijani government has been demolishing buildings in Karabakh on the grounds that they were “illegally” constructed after 1994.
“Under this guise, it was only natural that after the destruction of the Church of St. Jacob, they will also move on to the Holy Mother of God Cathedral,” said Hovannisian.
Several other Karabakh Armenian churches were already reportedly torn down after the 2020 war. Also, Baku announced in early 2022 plans to erase Armenian inscriptions from medieval Karabakh churches. The then head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Nadine Maenza, expressed serious concern over the decision. The European Parliament likewise condemned “the elimination of the traces of Armenian cultural heritage in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.”
The Armenian government essentially stopped accusing Baku of systematically desecrating or destroying Armenian monuments in Karabakh in 2023. It did not react to the latest indications of more church demolitions there, drawing criticism from Armenian opposition figures.
By contrast, the Armenian Church has remained vocal about the destruction of its properties in Karabakh. Its supreme head, Catholicos Garegin II, decried that during a conference hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Switzerland last May. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian launched his controversial campaign to oust Garegin shortly after that conference.
—
Iran is ready for the resumption of war and has prepared “new surprises”
Iran is fully prepared for a possible resumption of hostilities and has prepared “new surprises” for a potential new phase of the war. reports the Iranian Tasnim agency.
According to the agency, in the last two weeks, Iran assessed the probability of the resumption of war as high and in this regard carried out a number of military movements and compiled a new list of targets. As a pretext, the American demands and the established sea blockade are mentioned, which, according to the Iranian side, did not allow to resume the negotiations.
—
We did not demand the recognition of the genocide, but we also did not deny the past
We have never put a demand for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide on the state policy agenda. ANC Prime Minister candidate Levon Zurabyan wrote about this on his Facebook page.
In particular, he noted: “But we have never denied our past and memory. That was the reason why the Armenian Genocide Museum was built in 1995 and the international scientific conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary was held with the participation of world-famous genocide scholars.
We have not and will not turn the Armenian Genocide into a political game that harms the interests of our state, but we will not allow anyone to erase the memory and identity.
On April 24, at 11 o’clock, we will go together to the Armenian Genocide Memorial.”
—
RA MFA congratulated Israel on Independence Day
RA MFA congratulated the government and people of Israel on the occasion of Independence Day.
“Armenia is ready to expand RA-Israel ties and explore new opportunities for cooperation,” the message states.
—
“Land of Living” and “Strong Armenia” signed a memorandum uniting themselves
“Land of Living” and “Strong Armenia” parties have signed a memorandum, combining political, organizational and human potential.
In this regard, the statement of the “Land of Living” party says:
“The Republic of Armenia is facing serious security, political and value system challenges that require nationwide consolidation, responsibility and clear political will.
Emphasizing the above, the “Aprelu Yerkir” party and the “Strong Armenia” alliance of parties signed a memorandum according to which they combine their political, organizational and human potential, forming a unified political agenda in order to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and ensuring the active involvement of the regional teams of the “Aprelu Yerkir” party within the framework of the “Strong Armenia” alliance of parties by being included in the latter’s electoral list.
Cooperation is based on:
The fundamental importance of the Republic of Armenia as a free, independent, sovereign and democratic state,
The indisputable priority of the return of Armenian prisoners, the most important precondition for the restoration of national dignity and the establishment of a just and stable peace,
The exceptional role of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church throughout the history of the Armenian people as a pillar of national identity, faith, unity and statehood.
The imperative of restoring trust between the state and the people, strengthening national solidarity, as well as the effective consolidation of the pan-Armenian potential between Armenia and the Diaspora.
“Aprelu Yerkir” party assumes its responsibility for the changes in the country.
—
Verelq: Significant and symbolic. Armenian society has a chance for a new history
It’s no secret that the initiative to create the Living Country Party comes from Ruben Vardanyan, who is one of our compatriots who is currently being held hostage in Baku. The symbolism of the agreement between Samvel Karapetyan’s alliance and Aprelu Yerkir Party is certainly not due to that circumstance alone.
There is an equally significant and important circumstance, important in a broad sense. In fact, Ruben Vardanyan and Samvel Karapetyan are two major holders of Armenian capital on an international scale, who assume responsibility and responsibility for the Armenian statehood, for the landmark development prospects of that statehood.
By and large, it is not important what the chronological sequence and format of the manifestations is. The fact itself is very important, which, in my subjective opinion, could have happened much earlier, but due to some developments, it remained “half-finished”. Those developments were the events of 2018.
And earlier, the change of government in 2016, when Karen Karapetyan was appointed prime minister in Armenia in September. His close partnership relationship with Samvel Karapetyan is known. And Ruben Vardanyan published an article after his appointment in 2016, in which it was clearly stated that if Karapetyan’s appointment fails, Armenia may not have a second chance for a breakthrough. By and large, it was during that period that a fairly significant environment of commitment and responsibility towards the perspective of Armenian capital and Armenian statehood was formed.
Moreover, I am not giving my assessment on it now. I made my assessment right then as an opportunity to really make a breakthrough. Of course, later on, I repeat, the development of events went in a known direction, which created the opportunity and logic of another opportunity, which, however, ended with a heavy defeat and losses.
In no way do I want to equate Samvel Karapetyan’s Alliance-Aprelu Yerkir partnership with the occasion of 2016, let alone leave the impression of history repeating itself. However, the Armenian community has the opportunity for a new history, in the context of which I consider the agreement reached today to be truly significant and symbolic. No doubt it is not enough, but it is a certain tangible pillar to develop the overall structure.
Analyst Hakob Badalyan
—
Asbarez: Azerbaijan Destroys Stepanakert’s Holy Mother of God Cathedral
The Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert
In continuing its policy of destroying Armenian cultural and religious buildings in occupied Artsakh, Azerbaijan has destroyed the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in central Stepanakert.
In an announcement posted on social media on Tuesday, the Artsakh Tourism & Culture Development Agency reported the latest such act of destruction by the Azerbaijani government.
“This is not just the demolition of a church. This is a continuation of the same policy that led to the Armenian Genocide a century ago. Today it manifests itself in new forms as a cultural genocide and a planned process of erasing the homeland, the goal of which is the final elimination of Armenian historical recollection, culture, and spiritual presence in Artsakh. Not only buildings are being destroyed, but also the identity, the past, and the right to the future of the [Armenian] people,” the agency’s statement said.
“Today, its destruction is another episode in the same tragic chain that began a century ago with the genocide [of the Armenians] and continues today before our eyes, directed not only against the stones, but also against the recollection, dignity, and right of the people to live and return to their homeland,” the statement emphasized, pointing out that the demolition happened on the eve of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, consecrated the church on April 7, 2019 in a ceremony attended by government officials as residents filled the main cathedral in Stepanakert.
The the new edifice restored the centuries-old religious presence in the area where the church, which had been operating since the end of the 19th century, had been closed during the Soviet era and transformed into a secular building. The newly built church became a living symbol of the revival of faith, the preservation of recollection, and the continuity of Armenian identity.
“Under these conditions, the almost complete silence of the authorities of the Republic of Armenia is unacceptable. When our holy places are destroyed, silence is no longer neutrality—it becomes an accomplice to the crime being committed,” the announcement added.
“Equally shameful and dangerous is the silence of the international community, as well as international and specialized structures engaged in the protection of cultural heritage. This silence not only does not stop the criminal, but also encourages new crimes, creating a climate of impunity,” the agency said in its announcement.
“The authorities of the Republic of Armenia are obligated to give an immediate and clear political assessment to this barbarity, publicly condemn the policy of destruction of [Armenian] cultural heritage in Artsakh, and take active diplomatic steps to raise this issue on international platforms,” the agency emphasized.
“At the same time, it should be clearly recorded that the right of the Armenian population of Artsakh to return to their homeland is inalienable and cannot be questioned. The destruction of cultural heritage is also aimed at denying this right, disrupting the possibility of the people’s return through the erasure of recollection,” said the statement.
—
Armenpress: MOLDPRES: Moldova on frontline of EU enlargement, says Marta Kos
Originally published by MOLDPRES
The Republic of Moldova is registering a remarkable pace of reform, managing to obtain the mandate to begin technical negotiations on all 33 accession chapters, despite unprecedented pressure from Russia. The announcement was made on Monday by the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, during a session of the European Parliament, where it was emphasized that Moldova and Ukraine are performance leaders, while progress in the Western Balkans remains slow.
Referring to the Republic of Moldova, Marta Kos underlined that the authorities in Chișinău are advancing at a sustained pace in implementing the reforms needed for accession to the European Union, despite external pressures and the tense regional context generated by the war in Ukraine.
“Despite pressure from Russia and the effects of the war in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova is carrying out high-quality reforms at a sustained pace,” Kos said.
The Commissioner confirmed that Moldova’s technical progress is at the highest level.
“Last month, the member states gave us the mandate to start technical negotiations for all 33 negotiation chapters. This was a recognition of the extraordinary efforts of the Moldovan people,” she noted.
While progress in the Western Balkans is uneven, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are seen as the current engines of enlargement.
“As with Ukraine, we are looking forward to a Council decision to officially open all six negotiation clusters for Moldova,” Kos stressed.
The Commissioner issued a warning regarding the states in the Western Balkans: “While Ukraine and Moldova are performing well, progress has been much slower in the Western Balkans. I have written to the authorities in the region to step up their reforms, otherwise their citizens will lose out. At present, over 700 million euros risk being lost permanently across the region if reforms are not completed by June 2026 or December 2026.”
Marta Kos expressed her “concern” about developments in Georgia and Serbia, where democratic backsliding is distancing these countries from the EU, while the Republic of Moldova is taking decisive steps toward anchoring itself in the European political space. A key point of her speech was the inclusion of the Republic of Moldova in new security structures even before actual accession.
“When it comes to defending freedom and democracy, our current and future member states are fighting the same fight. In many ways, some of our candidate countries know this fight even better than we do. Look at Ukraine. Look at Moldova,” Marta Kos said.
In this regard, the European official announced the expansion of cooperation through the “European Shield of Democracy.”
“We must treat our future members as equals. Now. Not when it is too late.”
The Commissioner concluded her remarks by reiterating that enlargement is “once again one of the most strategic policies of the European Union,” and that the Republic of Moldova is an essential part of this vision of peace and stability on the continent.
The Republic of Moldova submitted its application for accession to the European Union on 3 March 2022, and on 23 June 2022 it obtained candidate country status, with a recommendation to continue reforms. In November 2023, European assessments confirmed Moldova’s progress and recommended the opening of accession negotiations, a decision approved by EU leaders in December 2023. On 25 June 2024, accession negotiations officially began.
In September 2025, the Republic of Moldova completed the bilateral screening with the EU – a stage that analyzes the compatibility of national legislation with the European acquis. In mid-December 2025, the country launched technical discussions on the first negotiation chapters. The authorities in Chișinău underlined that this stage marks a crucial phase of the accession negotiations, which will underpin future progress in the process of integrating the Republic of Moldova into the EU.
Published by Armenpress, original at
—