{"id":6884,"date":"2026-06-16T16:13:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=6884"},"modified":"2026-06-19T13:55:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T13:55:40","slug":"eu-backed-armenia-election-winner-brands-opposition-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/eu-backed-armenia-election-winner-brands-opposition-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"EU-backed Armenia election winner brands opposition \u2018illegal\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has labelled his rivals criminal oligarchs and threatened to strip them of political standing\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose pro-EU Civil Contract party won a decisive victory in the June 7 parliamentary election, has branded opposition parties that entered parliament as illegal and vowed to strip them of political standing. The election was widely seen as a referendum on Armenia\u2019s geopolitical future, with Pashinyan\u2019s party pushing for closer ties with the EU. \u00a0<\/p>\n The official results announced on Sunday showed Civil Contract won 49.74% of the vote, enough to form a government on its own. The opposition Strong Armenia bloc, founded by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, came second with 23.27%, while former President Robert Kocharyan\u2019s Armenia Alliance won 9.92%.<\/p>\n \n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Businessman Gagik Tsarukyan\u2019s Prosperous Armenia narrowly missed the 4% threshold for parliamentary representation, receiving 3.98%. All three opposition groups advocate closer ties with Russia, Armenia\u2019s largest trading partner and main energy supplier.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Pashinyan, who has faced mass protests in recent years, said the opposition represented in the newly elected parliament had been formed through \u201cabsolutely illegal actions\u201d<\/em> and that Armenia had \u201clegitimate right to deprive these circles of the opportunity for further political activity.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0<\/p>\n He said the authorities had documented instances of what he described as foreign interference aimed at protecting a \u201ccriminal-oligarchic regime\u201d<\/em> in Armenia. \u00a0<\/p>\n