00:01Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party has won the parliamentary elections.
00:06The vote was pivotal for two main reasons, according to this expert.
00:10Despite the geopolitical context, the real issue here is on sustaining the momentum of the government's policies
00:19in terms of normalizing relations with neighbors and diplomatic engagement with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
00:25The second real importance of this election is Armenia's third back-to-back, genuinely free and fair election.
00:35Guy Raghossian sees the pre-existing tensions with Russia as quickly dissipating.
00:40He expects a re-elected Prime Minister going first to Moscow to reassure Russia
00:45that Armenia remains committed to the Eurasian Economic Union.
00:48Russia, in turn, will ease restrictions on Armenian imports and exports.
00:55Yet Russia, over the longer term, does rely on economics and trade as structural leverage over Armenia.
01:03Nevertheless, this isn't about the EU versus Russia.
01:07This is the Armenian government's delicate balancing act.
01:11The reaction of Armenia's neighbors will be key.
01:15The real question is not what direction Armenia is going to go. We know that.
01:20What will be the reaction of Russia and the other neighbors?
01:23We assess that Russia may continue to try to embargo goods from Armenia.
01:30And you have to remember that almost all of Armenia's gas and oil is imported from Russia.
01:36Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has declared victory in the elections here.
01:41He celebrated in the early hours of this morning with his civil contract party, saying that the win was a
01:47historic victory.
01:49Now, around 60% of those votes have been counted.
01:52It wasn't an absolute win, but it was a simple majority of around 53%.
01:57Of course, Armenia clearly turning the page in what has been a tumultuous past couple of decades.
02:04The Georgian PM was the first leader to congratulate Mr. Pashinyan on that win.
02:09And these elections have been a real test for him.
02:12Of course, Armenia has been coming under intense economic pressure from Moscow.
02:17And, of course, there was his election pledge to deepen ties with the West.
02:22For now, it will be interesting over the coming days to see what Russia's reaction to that win will be.
02:29Jane Witherspoon, Euronews in Yerevan, Armenia.
02:32Keenah.
02:35Aresa welcomes Toyota.
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