Armenia’s European Choice After the 2012-13 Elections

The last 12 months in Armenia were dominated by elections. Parliamentary elections took place in May 2012, followed by the presidential elections in February 2013 and the Yerevan city council in May 2013. In addition to demonstrating how numerous domestic challenges are being planned to be addressed by the contenders, the contests could have become a test of competing visions on the international future of the country: being dependent on domineering Russia and holding on to legacies of the Soviet past versus capitalizing on the window of opportunity of the European choice. Three aspects are of considerable importance: the process of the elections themselves; to what extent the elections meet democratic standards; and communicating proposals to address the existing challenges, among them the issue of international orientation and reactions to international opportunities. However, some factors demonstrate that the international community did not see a sufficiently clear indication of Armenia’s European choice, and the issue has been postponed to the post-election period. This period is particularly interesting also because the next national presidential elections will take place in 2018, the year which marks the centenary of the first independent Armenian Republic.