With nine days until Armenia's parliamentary elections, the campaign has been marked by a series of developments that illuminate the pressures on both sides of the contest. Russia has moved to restrict flower imports from Armenia starting 22 May, a measure that directly affects one of Armenia's more visible agricultural export sectors and adds to a pattern of economic signals from Moscow in the weeks before the vote.
The Strong Armenia alliance, built around detained billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, faces compounding legal difficulties. Armenia's Investigative Committee confirmed that Narek Karapetyan — a candidate on the Strong Armenia list and a relative of Samvel Karapetyan — had concealed information about holding foreign citizenship, in violation of electoral law. The Russian Foreign Ministry separately confirmed that Narek Karapetyan has never held Russian citizenship, a clarification that appeared intended to close off one line of attack.
The Anti-Corruption Committee reported further arrests of Strong Armenia-affiliated candidates on charges of pre-election bribery, adding to the legal proceedings that the alliance describes as politically motivated and the government describes as law enforcement. Among Armenian parties registered to compete, the “I am Against Everyone” list saw 50 of its 87 candidates withdraw their candidacies ahead of the vote.
“Armenia is moving toward EU standards while maintaining its membership in the EAEU. If combining both approaches becomes impossible, the next choice will be made together with the country's citizens.”
— Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, May 2026
The flower ban as pressure tactic
Russia's restriction on Armenian flower imports is a small measure in economic terms but a pointed signal in political ones. Armenia has become a significant flower exporter — partly as a result of the greenhouse agriculture investment encouraged by its EAEU membership and the access to the Russian market it provides. Targeting that sector in the weeks before the election is consistent with a broader pattern of Russian economic signalling: the message is that the economic benefits of EAEU membership are contingent on political alignment.
Pashinyan's campaign has not directly addressed the flower ban, instead continuing to frame the EU integration trajectory as a question of sovereignty and security rather than economic optimisation. His campaign's opening in Syunik province — the region most affected by the 2023 displacement of Karabakh Armenians — was a deliberate choice to confront the sharpest opposition charge against him on its own ground. CAW will publish results analysis on 8 June following the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary findings.