Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan announced his team's intention to run in the 2026 parliamentary elections. At a press conference, he noted that the 2021 election results demonstrated his influence and ability to consolidate a portion of the electorate.
Kocharyan expressed confidence that the re-election of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is unlikely and warned the authorities against possible electoral fraud.
The former president also commented on Armenia's aspirations for EU membership, pointing to the government's failure to meet established criteria and the lack of logic in its current steps, including the creation of a new Department of European Integration within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Earlier, media reports surfaced of Kocharyan's meeting with Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko, who has been called "the Kremlin's curator for Armenia."
As a reminder, in the 2021 parliamentary elections, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's Civil Contract party garnered 53.92% of the vote. Meanwhile, despite active support from the Kremlin, Robert Kocharyan's Armenia bloc received only 21.04%.
