Will Armenia’s political tables turn after the changes in the largest EU countries?

The election to the European Parliament, which took place from June 6–9, led to the dissolution of the French National Assembly, the resignation of the Belgian PM, and a crushing defeat of Germany’s ruling party. In Austria, the far right has also significantly strengthened its position.

The world’s media have already commented on this topic in detail. The Washington Post wrote that even early forecasts “showed voters punishing ruling centrists and throwing support behind far-right parties.”

The Guardian believes that “if the French far-right party wins an outright majority in the upcoming election, the president would effectively lose control over most French domestic policy.”

What happened really stands out from the picture that has been typical of Europe for many decades. Moreover, it should be understood that for decades after the collapse of Nazi Germany, the far-right political forces were marginal elements almost everywhere, but the current electoral cycle has demonstrated a shift in public sentiment to the right.

We should emphasize right away that the right is far from its electoral maximum; moreover, the European People’s Party (EPP) has the first place, which means that Ursula von der Leyen, a great friend of the Azerbaijani people, can once again lead the European Commission and continue to be Aliyev’s voice in the EU.

However, it would be foolish not to notice changes in the mood of the European public. Experts are correct when they say that far-left liberal populism is being replaced by right-wing populism. Taking into account the fact that the European Parliament is not a parliament in the classical sense of the word and is actually deprived of the authority to develop policies and legislative initiatives, we simply state that the election became a kind of public opinion poll, which eventually demonstrated a shift in the mood of Europeans. The upcoming election in France and Belgium will be a good test for the ruling elites and oppositions in these countries—whether they will be able to consolidate their success or if this will turn out to be an accident.

Once again, we can state that in many ways, the developments in Armenia fit not only into the logic of regional processes (in neighboring Georgia, the local church plays an increasingly important role in the political life of the country) but also in what is happening in the EU, with left-liberal populism losing its position.

The political process led by Archbishop Bagrat is essentially not only a process against populism, but also a kind of “anti-Maidan”. The process is unique for the post-Soviet area.

The situation in general is very unusual for our country: the authorities declare every day that the “movement has failed”, the police do not stand on ceremony with the protesters, but the process does not stop, and Bagrat Galstanyan is taking a number of steps to form a de facto dual power in Armenia—when the fact of a political figure in the state who comes into contact with the Western media and Western diplomatic missions in Armenia devalues Nikol Pashinyan himself. However, it is also clear that we are witnessing a game of nerves between the opposing sides, where the one who makes the first big mistake will lose.

Think about it…