Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's ruling party has won parliamentary elections, preliminary results showed on Monday.
Pashinyan has sought to forge closer ties with the West while also balancing the country’s relations with Russia.
His ruling Civil Contract party got 49.8 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the 23.3 percent of the Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia alliance, after all electoral precincts declared results, the Central Election Commission said.
Two other opposition forces — ex-president Robert Kocharyan's "Armenia" alliance and the Prosperous Armenia party — also cleared the electoral threshold to get into parliament, winning 9.9 percent and four percent of the vote, respectively.
Turnout was 59 percent, the commission said. Pashinyan hailed his party's "historic victory that will ensure Armenia's eternity and development."
He pledged to "continue the course of rapprochement with the West" while also developing Armenia's relations with Russia.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday after preliminary election results showed his party's victory, hailing "a democratic Armenia that is drawing ever closer to Europe".
Pashinyan has sought closer ties with the West, especially the European Union. "The spirit of the Velvet Revolution you led in 2018 is alive and well. We deeply value our partnership with a democratic Armenia that is drawing ever closer to Europe. Armenia can count on us," von der Leyen said on social media.
‘Shameful’
Pashinyan’s opponent Karapetyan called the elections "shameful" and denounced violations and repression, saying dozens of his campaign staff had been arrested.
Armenia's Investigative Committee said it had opened 59 criminal cases over alleged electoral violations — including multiple voting — and detained nine people.
Pashinyan has frozen participation in a Russia-led security bloc while deepening ties with the European Union and the United States, and set Armenia on a path toward possible EU membership.
Moscow has bristled at the possible loss of yet another ally in its backyard.
In a pointed remark, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in May: "We all see what is happening with Ukraine now... How did it all begin? With Ukraine's attempt to join the EU."
In the weeks before the vote, Russia banned the import of several products from Armenia — seen as a move to heap economic pressure on the country. Armenian officials have warned "enemies of freedom" are funding propaganda efforts.
