President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan issued a statement after the June 7 parliamentary elections, saying the country is entering a new chapter of political development.

Below is the President’s statement released by his office:

“Dear compatriots, with the parliamentary elections, Armenia is entering a new chapter of political development. These elections were another test of our democratic culture, state-building, public responsibility, and the maturity of state institutions.

The results formed through the free _expression_ of the will of citizens are the legal and moral foundation on which the legitimacy of state power rests.

I extend my deepest gratitude to all citizens of the Republic of Armenia who, through their participation, reaffirmed that democracy is an irreversible choice for our state.

I thank all individuals and bodies involved in organizing the electoral process, ensuring legality and transparency, as well as local and international observation missions and the mass media.

In a democratic system, elections are not the end of a political process but the beginning of a new and greater responsibility. Ideological and policy-based competition is the lifeblood of democracy, and after elections, the guiding principle for all of us must be one overriding goal—the national and state interest of the Republic of Armenia.

I congratulate the Civil Contract Party on receiving the trust of the citizens and a parliamentary majority. The election results are a public assessment of the activities carried out in the previous period, as well as a political mandate to implement the presented programs and ensure the country’s future development.

I congratulate the political forces that have gained the right to be represented in the National Assembly, whose mandates represent a delegation of responsibility to participate in the governance of the country.

The National Assembly is a platform for state-minded thinking, productive dialogue, and high political culture. The current challenges facing our state require strategic foresight and unity. I wish you tireless and effective work for the strengthening of the Republic of Armenia and the well-being of our people.”

The 7 June 2026 parliamentary elections offered voters a genuine choice among political alternatives in a well-run process, although direct pressure from abroad, in the form of escalating trade restrictions and security threats were observed during the campaign, aimed at unduly influencing voters in favor of the opposition, international observers representing the OSCE PA, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said in a preliminary statement released today.

The campaign was highly confrontational, with divisive rhetoric, and was marked by allegations of vote-buying and other electoral violations that led to numerous criminal proceedings against opposition candidates and activists, resulting in many opposition supporters refraining from actively engaging in the campaign. This, along with pressure on public sector employees to attend ruling party events, and recently introduced social and economic measures, raised concerns about the equality of opportunity to campaign, the statement says.

“The concentration of arrests and criminal prosecutions against opposition figures contributed to perceptions of selective justice, while a polarized media landscape, inflammatory rhetoric, misinformation, and persistent foreign pressure and interference challenged Armenia’s democratic resilience and the integrity of public debate,” said Farah Karimi, Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission. “This underscores the importance of continued efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, safeguard fundamental freedoms, and foster public trust in democratic processes.”

“The Armenian elections took place in a particularly tense geopolitical context, with direct foreign interference,” said Damien Cottier, Head of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. “In particular, pressure and threats from Russia authorities reached an unprecedented and worrying level.”

The process was governed by revised election-related laws and regulations that provide a sound basis for democratic elections. Changes in recent years were mostly introduced through an extensive consultative process and worked to improve the legal framework, but some gaps and ambiguities persist, and a number of previous ODIHR and Council of Europe Venice Commission recommendations remain unaddressed.

“The importance of these elections, combined with polarizing rhetoric throughout the campaign, created a tense atmosphere for both voters and election officials,” said Jevrosima Pejović, Head of the OSCE PA delegation. “Election bodies operated under heightened scrutiny, while voters were exposed to sustained political pressure and intense public debate. Tensions arising from domestic and external factors added to the pressure surrounding these elections and influenced public perception of the quality of electoral administration, highlighting the importance of promoting a constructive political climate and strengthening public confidence in electoral bodies.”

The election administration managed technical preparations professionally and efficiently, and enjoyed stakeholders’ trust. Election day proceedings were assessed overwhelmingly positively in the vast majority of polling stations observed.

“We met devoted polling station members, a large majority of whom were women, who performed their duties with dedication and attention. Some voters were lacking basic information about their polling stations and voting procedures, and the Armenian authorities should consider working on better voter information,” said Nathalie Loiseau, Head of the EP delegation. “The elections were generally peaceful and without incidents. The electoral process was calm and very well organised, procedures seemed meticulously observed, and small inconsistencies before counting were carefully verified.”

Online campaigning was extensive, and its regulation is limited, reducing transparency and oversight. The online campaign was confrontational and divisive. The ODIHR mission noted the use of manipulative, false and AI-generated content disseminated by some candidates, as well as inauthentic and third-party accounts to discredit opponents, the government and the electoral process. Overall, the authorities took steps to address disinformation, but the transparency and effectiveness of these efforts were limited by the lack of publicly available information. 

Amendments to campaign finance rules expanded the definition of campaign expenditures, increased donation and expenditure limits, and redistributed oversight responsibilities. Still, a number of gaps remain, limiting the transparency, accountability and integrity of party and campaign finance. 

Despite gender quotas for the election administration and parliament, as well as financial incentives for parties maintaining gender-balanced governing bodies, women’s participation in public and political life remained low. Women comprised 37.3 per cent of candidates. 

The media environment is pluralistic but polarized, and the ODIHR mission media monitoring found that most outlets were instrumentalized by contestants to amplify mutual insults and divisive campaign rhetoric, offering little substantive analysis of contestants’ platforms. Public television displayed clear bias in favour of the ruling party, contrary to its legal obligations and public mandate. At the same time, several private outlets portrayed the government negatively and provided favourable coverage to selected opposition contestants. All combined, this undermined voters’ opportunity to make an informed choice.

“Armenia’s voters were given – and took – the opportunity to make a genuine choice in a professionally managed election process and a vibrant and pluralistic, if often highly polarized campaign,” said Janez Lenarčič, head of the election observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. “Unfortunately, they had to make that choice against the backdrop of unprecedented foreign interference and pressure, in the form of punitive trade measures and day-by-day threats of further negative consequences contingent on which choice they made.”

This Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions is the result of a common endeavour involving the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP). The assessment was made to determine whether the elections complied with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said at a press conference in Vienna on June 8 that the agency has never claimed that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Grossi said: “We have never said that they are doing that. We did not say it when we had access to their facilities. And we cannot say it now.” 

Grossi noted that Tehran had not always provided complete answers to the agency’s questions in the past. He added that, because of military hostilities, the IAEA has been unable to access Iran’s nuclear facilities for nearly a year, with the exception of a recent inspection at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

Grossi also said he expects the agency to have significant influence on negotiations between the United States and Iran.

“I think it is clear that the IAEA has a very important role to play,” he said.

He added that the United Nations is not currently involved in resolving ongoing global conflicts and argued that the situation should change.

“We live in a world where conflicts are multiplying, and it is very sad to see that the United Nations is not participating in the resolution of those conflicts. In my view, that should not be the case,” Grossi said.

Armenia national football team midfielder Narek Grigoryan has described Moldova as an evenly matched opponent ahead of the sides’ upcoming friendly match.

Grigoryan made the remarks during a pre-match press conference ahead of the Armenia-Moldova encounter.

“I can say that I am in good form. I am ready for the upcoming match against Moldova. The team has also prepared well. We know what we need to do on the pitch. We will do everything to make our fans happy,” the midfielder said.

According to Grigoryan, Moldova is a strong opponent, and the Armenian national team has already identified how to take advantage of the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

 Armenia’s national football team will face Moldova on June 9. The match will be played at the Republican Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 19:00 local time.

Armenia national football team head coach Yeghishe Melikyan has compared upcoming friendly opponents Moldova to the Cyprus national team.

“We needed this kind of match schedule because the fixture calendar during the autumn qualifying campaign will be similar. These friendly matches are a test for us to understand how prepared we will be for the UEFA Nations League qualifying stage,” Melikyan told reporters.

According to the head coach, his players are approaching the upcoming friendly against Moldova with a positive mindset.

“You will see newcomers on the pitch against Moldova. I understand that we need a victory, but we also have long-term objectives, and for that we need to conduct experiments now. I need these matches to better understand my players. Moldova have a similar playing style to Cyprus and Latvia,” Melikyan said.

Armenia’s national football team will host Moldova on June 9. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 p.m. Yerevan time.

As part of a working visit to the Evros regional unit, Armenia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Greece, Tigran Mkrtchyan, held a meeting with Konstantinos Chatzikonstantinou, Chief Executive Officer of Alexandroupoli Port.

According to the Armenian Embassy in Greece, the port’s chief executive presented the strategic importance of Alexandroupoli Port as a key transport and logistics hub linking Greece, Bulgaria and Türkiye.

The discussions also touched upon the port’s railway infrastructure, its role in facilitating regional cargo transportation, and opportunities for cooperation along Black Sea and Mediterranean routes.

Ambassador Mkrtchyan presented the Armenian government’s Crossroads of Peace initiative and the TRIPP project, which forms part of the initiative, highlighting prospects for the development of regional connectivity and the expansion of economic interdependence.

The two sides also discussed opportunities to deepen economic cooperation between Armenia and the European Union, as well as issues related to the export of Armenian products to European markets. In this context, they examined the potential role of Alexandroupoli Port as a transit and distribution hub for cargo exported from Armenia to Europe.

Armenia’s Honorary Consul in Thessaloniki, Akis Dangazyan, also participated in the meeting.

The Armenia alliance will challenge the results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7.

The announcement was made on the Facebook page of Robert Kocharyan, Armenia’s second president and the leader of the alliance. Kocharyan believes that the elections were held “amid widespread pressure, arrests of opposition figures, the unprecedented use of administrative resources, and electoral violations.”

“At this stage, we are discussing our next steps with our partners in the opposition field. We will present our approaches regarding future actions after the completion of those discussions. One thing is clear: we will not back down, and we will not abandon our trench of struggle,” Robert Kocharyan said in a statement, thanking voters for every vote of confidence cast in support of the Armenia alliance.

According to the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7, three political forces surpassed the threshold required to enter parliament: the Civil Contract party, with 727,820 votes, or 49.825%; the Strong Armenia alliance, with 340,088 votes, or 23.281%; and the Armenia alliance, with 145,113 votes, or 9.934%.

Based on the preliminary results of the vote, the Civil Contract party will be able to secure a parliamentary majority and form a government.

The Wings of Unity party has announced that it does not accept the official results of the June 7 National Assembly elections.

The party said it is initiating a vote recount process and is considering the possibility of challenging the election results.

“With these elections, the vote of the citizen of Armenia and their right to determine the future of their state have been stolen. We are not going to come to terms with what has happened. We are not going to remain silent. We are not going to abandon our responsibility. Our struggle continues through all available legal, political and public platforms,” the statement said.

The party also thanked all citizens who placed their trust in it.

According to the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7, three political forces surpassed the threshold required to enter parliament: the Civil Contract party, with 727,820 votes, or 49.825%; the Strong Armenia alliance, with 340,088 votes, or 23.281%; and the Armenia alliance, with 145,113 votes, or 9.934%.

Based on the preliminary results of the vote, the Civil Contract party will be able to secure a parliamentary majority and form a government.

The Wings of Unity party received 33,618 votes, or 2.30% of the total vote.