埃里温成为欧洲焦点

South Caucasus Political Dialogue Yerevan in Europe’s Spotlight One month before Armenia’s parliamentary elections, Europe’s headsof state and government convene in Yerevan for the European Political Jakob Wöllenstein At a time of significant geopolitical tensions and just weeks before a landmark parliamentary election,Europe's eyes will turn to Armenia in early May 2026. Within a few days, Yerevan will be the venue forseveral high-level international formats–the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), the firstever EU-Armenia summit and the high-level conference "Yerevan Dialogue". The concentrated presence Armenia between geopolitical fault Velvet Revolution of 2018, Armenia's governmentunderPrime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hadinitiateda change of course.This affectedprimarilydomesticpolicy butextended toforeignpolicyas well,especially in the aftermath ofArmenia’sdefeat in the war over Nagorno- Whilein many countries the ninth of May isregularly celebrated as "Europe Day", in Armeniathis year the merry month begins with a complete"EuropeWeek".Top-tier politicians from 46countries,most of them heads of state andgovernment, plus representatives of the EU, OSCE,NATO and Council of Europe will travel to theeighthsummitoftheEuropeanPoliticalCommunity(EPC).The format,which waslaunched in response to Russia's full invasion of Simultaneously,Armenia isreducingits traditionaldependence on Russia for security and economicpolicy. For decades, this had meant a glass ceilingfor the conceivable European political ambition ofthe Caucasus state. Although Armenia has beenpart of the EU's Eastern Partnershipsince 2009, the country had to make a U-turn in 2013 shortlybeforethe planned signing of an already thesecapacities,as landmark elections areimminent.5 the population. However, in view of the continuinggeopoliticalfragility,limitedresourcesandvulnerabilities, the new strategy does not rely onradical breaks, but on diversification. The country Elections and pressure ofexpectations The two summits come in the middle of the hotphaseoftheelectioncampaignfortheparliamentary elections on June 7. Although a total of seventeen parties and two electoral blocs arecompeting for thefavourof voters, polls point to avictory for the ruling CivilContract(CC) party anda third term for Pashinyan.6 Peace orientation and international On the one hand, the involvement of these stronginternationalpartners is intended to helppolitically secure Armenia's rapprochement withits neighbours, which are superiorinmilitary andeconomicterms. Moreover,these relationshipsarefraught with asymmetries of power anddistrust.In this context, the Washington Accords But despite goodprospects and a stable core electorate,CCis also Againstthis background,foreign policy has acentral domestic policy function. A large majorityof Armenians want peace and support the courseof rapprochementwith the EU. Progress in the On the other hand, European values in this casearerecognizably more than a Sunday speechreference.In comparison to an increasinglyauthoritarian neighbourhood, Armeniaseems likea pioneerofdemocratic standards, human rights andcivil liberties.The country itself is underconsiderable pressure–not only, but in a specialway,from Russia.The Kremlin and Russianpropagandistsareovertlyandcovertly The summit week as a political signal With the EPC Summit, Armenia is hosting a formatthat explicitly aims to define the European politicalspace beyond the borders of the European Union.Thehosting of the semi-annual format varies The EU-Armenia summit immediately followingrepresentsa further upgrade.Usually,suchbilateral summit formats are reserved for larger so its implementation alone signals an increasedstrategic importance of Armenia from Brussels'point of view. The presence ofseveralheads ofstateand government–including Emmanuel membership to the population as a political goal,he openly communicates that full membership isa long way off under the current conditions of theaccession process. The path of rapprochement Europe as a partner–expectations TheYerevan Dialogue Conference, which was For Armenia, rapprochement with Europe is botha strategic necessity and a political project. Inadditiontosecuritypolicyconsiderations,economic prospects, infrastructure development held synchronously with the EU-Armenia Summit,also provides a framework for discussing this onsite under the eyes of the press and the expert Between symbolism and substance Despite all the political signal effect, it remains tobe seen to what extent the summits will deliverconcrete results. First drafts of the EU-ArmeniaSummit Declaration indicate that the EuropeanUnionwill reaffirm its support for Armenia's Nevertheless, there arepersistingstructural limitsto rapprochement under the current conditions.On the one hand, this concerns the security sector.Although Armeniahas de facto suspended itsmembershipin the Russian-dominated CSTOdefencealliance, Moscow continues