The Kremlin wants to prevent Pashinyan's re-election — Reuters
The Kremlin is trying to prevent Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan from being re-elected for another term.
This is according to Reuters.
To this end, the Kremlin plans to send Armenians living in Russia to Armenia so they can vote in the election there.
Sources told the agency about this.
According to them, by mid-May, the Kremlin had established a plan for sending Armenians from each Russian region and is demanding reports on how the plan is being implemented. It is estimated that sending 100,000 people to Armenia will cost about $50 million.
It is noted that the Kremlin reached this decision because Armenian citizens are prohibited from voting abroad.
The exact number of people the Russian Federation could send to Armenia is a subject of debate in the West, but Armenians regularly move between countries, a senior U.S. official noted in a conversation with the publication. In total, over 2 million Armenians live in the Russian Federation.
In addition to the plan to send Armenians to vote, Russia has stepped up an online campaign to discredit Pashinyan’s government. The propaganda group “Storm-1516,” which spreads disinformation in the West and attempted to influence the U.S. elections, is responsible for this campaign.
Armenia has opened a new rail route to the EU via Turkey.
Earlier, Pashinyan informed Putin that he would not attend the May 9 parade in Moscow
Earlier, Armenia appealed to the EU to send a rapid response team to counter Russian influence.
The EU confirmed its support for Armenia’s European aspirations.
Pashinyan also stated that Armenia is seeking EU membership.
