Opinion: Armenia  not to worsen relations with Russia ahead of  2026  elections

ArmInfo.Providing financial support to governments of countries considered friendly and sharing the EU's overall political and ideological approaches is a  well- accepted practice for European institutions. Sergey Minasyan, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, expressed this opinion in an interview with ArmInfo regarding the  15 million euros that the EU announced for Armenia the day before.

He added that it is a common practice among European institutions to  help strengthen the stability of domestic political and informational  spheres, especially during pre-election periods. As an example,  Minasyan cited the EU's support for electoral processes in Moldova.  Minasyan believes that EU funding will not affect the nature of  relations between Yerevan and Moscow, despite the fact that EU High  Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas  openly stated that the funds will be used to counter disinformation  from Russia.

"I don't think that at the current stage, when cooperation between  Armenia and Russia in the most crucial areas of security and defense  is effectively frozen, there will be a further deterioration in  relations on this basis. And I also don't  believe that the Armenian  side is interested in a further deterioration of political relations  with Russia at this phase. Unless there are serious force majeure  developments, even with the pre- election atmosphere in Armenia, the  Armenian authorities are unlikely to take such direct steps," the  Armenian expert said. Minasyan also acknowledged that much will  depend on the dynamics of the information field in and around Armenia  in the coming months. When asked to clarify what force majeure events  might be at issue, the expert emphasized that these could include  drastic steps taken within the context of the election campaign and  its intensity, aimed at sharply exacerbating relations, or a dramatic  change in the external geopolitical context, for example, around  Ukraine.