Armenia’s elections expose EU-Russia proxy struggle over post-Soviet spheres of influence amid domestic sovereignty debates
Original framing: “EU and Russia clash as Armenians head to the polls, Putin fumes” — South China Morning Post
The election occurs against the backdrop of Armenia’s 20th-century traumas: Soviet occupation, the 1915 genocide, and the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, where Russia’s delayed intervention left Armenia vulnerable. Historical parallels abound in post-Soviet states (e.g., Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan) where 'color revolutions' were framed as Western coups by Moscow. The 1991 independence, however, was a rare case of non-violent secession, a precedent often overlooked in Western analyses.
Armenia’s election is not merely a geopolitical battleground but a microcosm of post-colonial sovereignty struggles, where historical traumas, indigenous cosmologies, and diasporic networks collide with great-power ambitions.
The EU’s push for 'democratic conditionality' and Russia’s insistence on 'strategic partnership' both reflect a failure to recognize Armenia’s agency—a nation that has survived empires through cunning, resilience, and a deep connection to its land. The marginalized voices of Yazidis, LGBTQ+ Armenians, and labor migrants in Russia are the true arbiters of the country’s future, yet they are erased in favor of a binary that serves only Brussels and Moscow. A path forward requires rejecting both hegemonic blocs in favor of a neutrality pact rooted in truth, economic sovereignty, and regional cooperation. The 2018 revolution proved that Armenia’s people can outwit tyrants; the challenge now is to institutionalize that trickster wisdom before the next empire comes knocking.