By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – Armenia’s Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has dismissed Liparit Drmeyan, the head of the Office of the Representative for International Legal Affairs. This move follows a public statement by the Prime Minister that Armenia will not comply with an emergency ruling from the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal. The ruling had ordered Armenia […]
The Regional Center for Democracy and Security has published a new report titled “Narratives of Division: Ruling Party-Linked Hate Speech Against Karabakh Armenian Refugees.” The report explores how government-affiliated actors have fueled disinformation and hate speech, deepening societal divisions and undermining Armenia’s democratic resilience. Based on detailed analysis and interviews, the report reveals how harmful […]
By Aram Tadevosyan Democracy Watch – On May 29, during a government session, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking about the condition of historical and cultural monuments, remarked that our churches are “turned into storage rooms”. “A person enters a church to have a spiritual experience, but instead sees someone’s old shoes, clothes, someone has brought their old […]
The Armenian government has preliminarily approved an initiative for a new system of mandatory conscription, developed by a ruling party MP and presented by Armenia’s Minister of Defense at a regular cabinet meeting. According to the minister, young men of conscription age can opt out of the two-year military service by paying a sum of […]
Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, followed by Azerbaijani offensives on Armenian territory and Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022 and 2023, marked a turning point in the country’s defence strategy. These conflicts exposed critical weaknesses in the Armenian army, which remained largely reliant on outdated Soviet and Russian weaponry. This dependence on Russian arms and logistical […]
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The article by Eduard Arakelyan and Karina Avetisyan, analysts at the Regional Center for Democracy and Security (RCDS), was published in the May issue of European Security & Defence—a leading military publication covering defense policy and strategic security issues in Europe and neighboring regions. In the article, titled “Diversifying Armenia’s defence: Shifting Alliances and military […]
By Aram Tadevosyan The use of divisive and offensive language by political actors is one of the main problems of Armenia’s political culture. Democracy Watch regularly addresses the use of targeted and insulting rhetoric by both the opposition and the government. Debates over any issue often shift to the personal realm, where mutual accusations begin, […]
India and Pakistan Announce Ceasefire After Three Days of Clashes Involving Airstrikes, Precision Weapons, Drones, and Artillery A new wave of escalation began following a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India, which killed 26 people and injured many civilians. The Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack. This incident triggered Indian strikes on terrorist […]
