Armenian parliamentary vote will test prime minister's pivot from Russia

Article excerpt

Armenians vote Sunday in parliamentary elections that will reveal whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan can consolidate support for his pivot toward Europe and away from Russia. Pashinyan's party faces a strong challenger in billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian-Armenian businessman whose camp is seen as closer to Moscow. The Kremlin has been accused of attempting to influence the vote to block Armenia's overtures to the EU, a test of whether Pashinyan can shift his country's geopolitical alignment despite pressure from its historically dominant Russian patron.