Armenia appears ready to press ahead with its geopolitical transition away from Russia toward the West after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party registered a convincing victory in the country’s June 7 parliamentary election.

Pre-election polls had pegged Civil Contract’s support at a little over 30 percent. But on election day, the party garnered just under 50 percent of the ballots cast, according to preliminary figures published by the Central Election Commission (CEC). Two pro-Russian parties received the second and third highest number of votes, with Strong Armenia gaining 23.3 percent, followed by the Armenia Alliance with 9.7 percent, The Caspian Post reports via Eurasianet.

In all, 18 parties contested the vote with turnout estimated at 59 percent.

Speaking at a late-night news conference, Pashinyan characterized the results as a “historic victory.” He said his government would keep pursuing closer relations with the United States and European Union, while also maintaining its full membership in the Russia-dominated Eurasian Economic Union.

“We will, of course, contribute strengthening ties within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU],” Pashinyan stated.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Pashinyan, saying that “we [the EU] deeply value our partnership with a democratic Armenia that is drawing ever closer to Europe. Armenia can count on us.”

The election outcome marks a major geopolitical setback for Russia. Moscow employed a variety of pressure tactics, including a massive disinformation campaign and embargo on a variety of Armenian goods, in what appears to have been a futile effort to influence the election’s outcome.

Although Pashinyan has moved to distance Armenia from the Kremlin politically, Russia remains Yerevan’s most important trade partner. Russian officials have indicated that Pashinyan will not be able to maintain the status quo with Armenia’s membership in the EAEU and will have to choose between it and the EU.

Meanwhile, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, Strong Armenia’s financial backer, claimed that authorities employed “special measures” to manipulate the results, giving Civil Contract a majority. He also claimed that Strong Armenia activists had been harassed during the campaign. The CEC announced there no violations that could have influenced the outcome.

Pashinyan’s victory will keep the TRIPP trade corridor on track. Leaders of Strong Armenia and the Armenian Alliance had both vowed to undo TRIPP, as well as reject Armenia’s provisional peace deal with Azerbaijan, signed last summer in Washington.

During his late-night news conference, Pashinyan sought to de-legitimize his chief opponents - including Karapetyan, who is already facing money laundering and tax evasion criminal charges, and Armenia Alliance leader Robert Kocharyan - hinting that they are serving their own, and Russia’s interests, not Armenia’s. “These forces are not political forces; they are representatives of the criminal-oligarchic system, and they should have no field of activity in Armenia,” he said.