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'Disaster for the country!' - PM hopeful Kocharyan warns Armenia against moving closer to EU

"Former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan warned on Sunday that continued rule by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party and closer alignment with the European Union would be a 'disaster' for the country. Speaking to journalists in Yerevan following the parliamentary election, Kocharyan rejected the government’s pro-European direction, arguing that EU membership offered Armenia no realistic prospects in the foreseeable future. "This is not a victory for some European fairy tale; on the contrary, it is a defeat for the rational logic of the state's development. What is being proposed has absolutely no clear prospects, at least for the next 20 to 30 years; therefore, common sense is simply losing out here, the state is losing out, and the people are losing out. <...> That is a disaster for the country," he said. Kocharyan also described Pashinyan as a 'cowardly man' and accused the government of using criminal proceedings and house arrest to intimidate political opponents. "Criminal cases are being brought against hundreds of people. They are all members of the opposition, under house arrest, and so on. <...> It's not fear; they're just trying to instil fear," the former president said. Kocharyan also called for balanced relations with Russia and the European Union, urging authorities not to "drag the country into problems that will simply have a negative impact on people's well-being." In April 2025, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a law launching the country’s EU accession process. The legislation established a legal and political basis for closer integration but did not amount to a formal membership application or make Armenia an EU candidate country. Armenia has also remained a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, although Moscow has warned that full EU integration would be incompatible with continued membership in the bloc. On 1 April 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with Pashinyan, indicated that Moscow was 'completely at ease' with Armenia’s desire to co-operate with the European Union, but noted that it would not be possible to be in both the customs union with the EU and the EAEU simultaneously. Eighteen political forces are contesting the election, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s ruling Civil Contract party, the Strong Armenia alliance associated with businessman Samvel Karapetyan, and former president Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia Alliance. Earlier, the republic’s former defence minister Arshak Karapetyan published diplomatic correspondence from 2008 alleging that the US State Department had been in regular contact with Pashinyan during his time as a journalist. The published document states that Pashinyan received financial assistance, noting that he displayed signs of 'financial impropriety'. In March 2008, the US Embassy suspended its co-operation with Pashinyan following his request for help in evading criminal prosecution after the unrest during the presidential elections in Armenia. He was accused of organising mass riots and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. In 2011, the sentence was overturned under an amnesty, after which co-operation between the US State Department and Pashinyan resumed. "