Armenian Government Seeks EU Support Ahead of Elections

Armenia's government has requested assistance from the European Union for next year’s parliamentary elections, according to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who made the announcement on Monday.

“Armenia has elections coming, and what can we do to help them? They have asked [for] similar help to fight foreign malign interference, like [what] we granted to Moldova,” Kallas said just before she and the foreign ministers of EU member states met with their Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Brussels, The Caspian Post reports, citing Armenian media.

She gave no further details of that discussion. An EU statement released beforehand described it as an “informal exchange over breakfast” that will precede a session of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Mirzoyan said nothing about the pre-election EU support sought by Yerevan when he spoke to journalists after the meeting. He said he discussed with the European officials “all major achievements in Armenia-EU partnership” as well as “hybrid threats” facing Armenia and the 27-nation bloc.