Betting on accelerated peace Armenia’s ruling party sets its priorities

Recently, a series of events in Armenia has indicated that the ruling party is seeking to expedite the peace process with Azerbaijan and is using this, along with gaining support from the European Union, as a key asset in the upcoming election campaign.

For instance, Armenia’s Secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, stated during a meeting with a delegation of directors from Eastern European departments of foreign ministries within the Nordic-Baltic cooperation format that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan requires institutional steps. At the request of the guests, Grigoryan outlined these steps. Members of the delegation expressed support for efforts aimed at establishing peace and stability in the region. However, the media did not disclose what specific steps were proposed.

Almost simultaneously, news came from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. “The EU will deploy a Hybrid Rapid Response Team to help counter the threats ahead of the country's elections. Supporting democratic resilience in our neighbourhood remains essential. We will not leave Armenia to face foreign interference alone,” she noted.

It is worth recalling that official Yerevan had some time ago requested such support from Brussels, fearing Russian cyber threats ahead of and during the elections. Now, the EU has responded positively, which, presumably, has significantly strengthened the position of the Civil Contract party among Armenia’s pro-Western electorate.

Finally, Armenia’s Minister of Justice, Srbuhi Galyan, stated at the first meeting of the Public Council under the Ministry of Justice that the text of the new draft Constitution of Armenia is already ready. It is planned to be discussed at a meeting of the governing board of the ruling Civil Contract party, as well as within its parliamentary faction. The minister added that she currently does not have information on the date of publication. However, the context of her statement suggests that it will happen fairly soon:

“The Constitutional Reform Council is working very actively. We hold meetings every week, and the text is ready, as I promised. However, I don’t have any news about its publication yet, because it has been decided to also discuss the text within the Civil Contract party board and parliamentary faction. After that, a decision will be made regarding its publication.”

It can be added that if the ruling party were not seeking to expedite the publication of the Constitution, it is unlikely that it would have been announced that the text is already ready.

The implication is clear: even if the parliamentary elections and the constitutional referendum are scheduled at different times, Nikol Pashinyan has decided to go all in, turning the new Constitution into part of his pre-election arsenal. This suggests that the Armenian Prime Minister views the Constitution’s amended preamble—particularly regarding territorial claims against Azerbaijan (which we assume will be modified)—as a powerful factor ahead of the parliamentary elections.

It is also evident that Pashinyan and his team have chosen to approach the elections with two strong cards: peace with Azerbaijan and EU support. The latter factor is largely linked to Brussels’ recognition that, amid geopolitical turbulence both north and south of the South Caucasus, the region is becoming a critically important transport hub connecting Asia and Europe, and that establishing peace and stability there is a top priority.