June 7 vote demonstrated state's ability to safeguard electoral process despite foreign interference, Armenian delegate says at PACE

Armenia's 2026 parliamentary elections demonstrated the state's ability to safeguard the electoral process and protect citizens' right to vote despite significant external pressure, Armenian delegation member Sona Ghazaryan (Civil Contract) said at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

In her speech, Ghazaryan said that Armenia faced sophisticated forms of foreign interference during its June 7 elections, including disinformation, the spread of false narratives, cyberattacks and attempts to undermine citizens' trust in democratic processes.

“It's a pleasure to be back at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe with a renewed mandate. Following free and fair elections in Armenia, the political force led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the vast majority of the vote and was entrusted with forming the government. I would argue that those elections were significant in different respects: the scale and nature of foreign interference, alleged vote-buying by the opposition parties. We witnessed increasingly sophisticated forms of foreign interference that can be taken: disinformation, the spread of false narratives, cyber-attacks, manipulation of a public information space and attempts to undermine citizens' trust in democratic processes. The Council of Europe itself has recognized foreign information manipulation and interference as an increasing challenge to democratic security in Armenia. There are also important economic dimensions. Political pressure was accompanied by economic pressure through restrictions on imports of several products intended to influence a sovereign country's political choices. As the Prime Minister mentioned during his speech in the General Assembly of the United Nations, one of the most important achievements of our government and the Velvet Revolution back in 2018 has been the strengthening of state institutions and democratic mechanisms. Therefore, the 2026 elections demonstrated the capability of the state to safeguard the electoral process, to protect citizens' right to vote and ensure that the democratic choice of the people can be and must be protected. It must be freely expressed even in the face of significant external pressure. The result of these elections is the choice in favour of peace and regional co-operation; in favour of democratic institutions, the rule of law, accountable governance, economic opportunities and clear co-operation with the EU. And this choice must belong to the people of Armenia, not to the foreign government, not to the external power, not to economic pressure and not to disinformation. So, the principle is very straightforward: Armenian elections must be decided in Armenia, by the citizens of Armenia, through free and fair processes. This is not only a matter of Armenian sovereignty; it's a fundamental principle of European democracy,” Ghazaryan said.