Ioannisyan assures: The risk of foreign interference may  significantly increase ahead of the parliamentary elections in  Armenia

ArmInfo.One of the main concerns about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia, scheduled for June 7, 2026, is the potential threat of foreign interference. Daniel Ioannisyan, founder of the "Union of Informed  Citizens" NGO, made this statement at a press conference in Yerevan titled "What Prevents a Good Electoral Code from Ensuring Democratic Elections."

According to him, signs of this interference are already being  observed in various formats. "We are concerned  and assume that it  will escalate ahead of the parliamentary elections," Ioannisyan  noted.  However, he did not provide any specific examples of such  interference that his organization had documented, only making  unfounded allegations. Speaking about the potential influence of  administrative resources on election results, he emphasized that  while current regulatory mechanisms are not perfect and some risks  remain, observations of previous electoral processes have shown that  the influence of administrative resources on voting results has  decreased significantly compared to 2017 and, in some cases, was even  insignificant.

"Of course, we continue to encounter abuses of administrative  resources; this remains a problem, but its impact on election results  is significantly less," Ioannisyan assured.

Earlier, Armenian media reported that Armenian Foreign Minister  Ararat Mirzoyan had asked Brussels to "send a rapid response team to  Yerevan to counter Kremlin disinformation and Russian interference in  the Armenian parliamentary elections, and then, possibly, a more  permanent civilian mission." The EU sent a similar team of about 20  people to Chisinau during last year's parliamentary elections "to  help Moldovan authorities identify and counter disinformation  emanating from Russia on social media." 

It should be added that on December 15, 2025, the EU High  Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and  Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, told  reporters that Armenia had asked the European Union for financial  assistance to "prevent external interference ahead of the next  parliamentary elections" scheduled for June 2026. Kallas also stated  that in the run-up to the elections, Russia had allegedly intensified  its disinformation campaign, and that the EU would provide Armenia  with 15 million euros to counter external threats. 

However, independent experts believe that in practice, this  assistance would become a tool for limiting narratives politically  undesirable for the government, rather than a means of combating  false information.