Opposition politician accuses Pashinyan of seeking EU help to tilt elections

An Armenian opposition figure accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday of dragging the country into a “proxy war” and committing “state treason” by seeking European Union assistance ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.

Levon Zurabyan, deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress party, said Pashinyan was branding all domestic opponents as participants in a Russia-led “hybrid war” and appealing to Europe for backing that could undermine democratic norms.

“This is an unprecedented disgrace, if not state treason,” Zurabyan said in a statement. He alleged the government was asking the EU for a “green light” to manipulate election outcomes by levelling “false accusations” against the opposition.

Zurabyan’s comments followed remarks by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who said Brussels was considering how to help Armenia counter foreign interference. “Armenia have elections coming, and what can we do to help them?” Kallas said on Monday. “They have asked similar help to fight the malign influence, like we granted to Moldova.”

Zurabyan said comparisons with Moldova and Romania were troubling, citing controversial steps taken in those countries’ recent elections that were justified by allegations of Russian financing. “Explain to Kaja Kallas that it was not ‘the Armenians’ who appealed to her, but the Armenian government, which had no right to do so,” he said.