The European Union (EU) is preparing to help Armenia avoid Russian interference in the parliamentary elections scheduled for June, first by deploying a “hybrid rapid response team” to combat Kremlin’s disinformation, and then possibly a more permanent civilian mission in this South Caucasus country, reports Azatutyun, the RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
The Azatutyun has at its disposal a letter from the Armenian Foreign Minister to Brussels, in which Ararat Mirzoyan asked on February 13 to send a rapid response team to Yerevan, the Armenian capital. The EU sent a similar team of about 20 people to Moldovan capital Chisinau during last year’s parliamentary elections to assist Moldovan authorities in early detection and countering disinformation disseminated from Russia on social media.
Both Brussels and Chisinau have deemed the project a success, and the EU now wants to do the same for Armenia, ahead of the crucial elections that Russia is expected to try to influence.
According to diplomatic notes from discussions in Brussels, the EU intends to “express its support for strengthening Armenia’s democratic resilience and information integrity both before the June 2026 elections and during the ongoing peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” adding that “the assistance offered to Armenia should be clearly aimed at reducing and mitigating Russia’s destabilizing activities.”
Azatutyun has learned that EU member states have also appealed to the diplomatic corps, the external relations service, urging to “continue engagement with Azerbaijan, explaining the purpose of the EU’s assistance to Armenia and underlining the need to avoid negative impacts on the peace process.”
Azerbaijan has previously expressed concerns about both the non-lethal military assistance provided by the EU to Armenia in recent years and the current EU monitoring mission in Armenia, which has been operating on the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan since 2023—and with a mandate to build confidence and monitor the situation.
The new aforesaid mission, if approved, would focus more on hybrid threats, including “protecting the integrity of the electoral process, as well as the possible constitutional referendum that immediately follows it.”
According to several EU diplomats interviewed by Azatutyun, the parties aim to launch this mission prior to the EU-Armenia summit in Yerevan on May 4. That means a decision on this matter needs to be made in March, but the process is not that easy.
