Armenia is heading toward parliamentary elections on June 7 in a vote that has drawn intense interest from both Brussels and Moscow, as the country's long-standing alignment with Russia gives way to growing public support for European integration. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power after the 2018 Velvet Revolution and is the current front-runner, is campaigning on a pro-EU platform, while his main rival, billionaire Samvel Karapetyan of the Strong Armenia party, is courting voters who remain economically tied to Russia. The contest carries high stakes: a February 2026 poll found 72 percent of Armenians support EU membership, yet ties with Moscow remain deep — Russia still operates a military base in Gyumri and Armenia remains a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union — and some democracy monitors warn that overt foreign interference from both sides risks undermining Armenian voters' ability to make a genuinely free choice.