Asking the EU for election assistance reflects the authorities’ shameful weakness: Mesrop Arakelyan

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas announced that Armenia has asked the European Union for support in combating foreign interference ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026.

“Armenia has elections coming, and what can we do to help them? They have asked similar help to fight the malign influence, like we granted to Moldova,” Kallas said.

In an interview with Aysor.am, Mesrop Arakelyan, co-founder of the “Aprelu Yerkir” (“Land to Live”) party, described this step by the Armenian authorities as unacceptable.

According to Arakelyan, the situation primarily demonstrates the shameful weakness of the authorities.

“They represent a state, yet in the face of internal issues, which are not real problems but part of a normal electoral process, they turn to an organization of which Armenia is not even a member. This is absolutely unacceptable,” he said.

“If there are issues related to elections, political parties, or individual actors, they must be resolved exclusively within the framework of the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.”

He emphasized that Armenian law already provides mechanisms to address illegal activities by political forces or individuals.

“In reality, this has nothing to do with helping Armenia. Once again, the authorities are drawing Armenia into becoming a tool within the context of the EU-Russia confrontation. I do not know what further trials we must endure for the authorities to understand that turning the country into a pawn in the conflicts of major powers is not only unacceptable, but destructive,” Arakelyan said.

According to him, experience shows that major powers settle their disputes quickly, while small states like Armenia are left bearing the consequences.

Arakelyan also dismissed the authorities’ references to hybrid warfare as absurd.

“All wars are rooted in the actions of current authorities. If Nikol Pashinyan is so committed to establishing peace, why can he not establish ‘hybrid peace’ as well? The current authorities are not only pioneers of fake news, aggression, and manipulation – we can say they are also their carriers and creators,” he stated.

Speaking about hybrid warfare, Arakelyan argued that it is primarily being conducted by the current authorities themselves.

“There is a significant amount of hate speech and fake news in the political arena. This does not come only from the authorities, but it is a fact that it exists,” he said.

He also rejected claims about the decisive influence of foreign media in Armenia.

“There is no substantial influence of foreign media in Armenia. The vast majority of the population receives information from local Armenian-language media outlets. I consider the alleged foreign influence to be greatly exaggerated,” Arakelyan noted.

According to him, the issue is being exploited by the authorities as a propaganda tool ahead of the elections.

“Given the frequent speculation on this topic, I recently submitted a request to the National Security Service to clarify whether there are foreign agents in Armenia’s public or political sphere. The response stated that there is no such information. It is becoming increasingly clear that this narrative is being used to instill fear in society ahead of the elections,” Mesrop Arakelyan concluded.