Pashinyan Accuses Church and Opposition of Pushing Armenia Toward New War in Speech to European Parliament

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the Armenian Apostolic Church and several opposition figures of trying to reignite Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan during a speech at the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Speaking in Strasbourg, Pashinyan defended his government’s actions against senior church leaders and rejected accusations that the crackdown is politically motivated. In recent months, Armenian authorities have arrested three archbishops and one bishop who now face criminal charges. The clergymen deny the accusations and say the cases are politically driven.

During his speech, the prime minister insisted that those detained are not political prisoners and argued that certain members of the clergy and opposition figures are promoting policies that could lead Armenia back into war.

“The reality is that some clergymen, who have cynically violated all the rules of spiritual morality, thus making themselves vulnerable to foreign special services … have assumed the leadership of the war party in the Republic of Armenia, gathering around them Armenia’s former leaders, some forces associated with them and some Russia-based and pro-Belarusian oligarchs, and are trying to sacrifice Armenia’s independence to the interests of third countries,” he said.

Pashinyan also warned that his government would not allow Armenia to return to military conflict.

“We will not allow a new conflict, a new war, we will not allow the consciousness, peace and independence gained at the cost of thousands of victims to be sacrificed for anti-Christian purposes,” he added during the 25-minute address.

The Armenian prime minister also spoke about the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7. He said the vote should ensure that Armenia’s path toward peace with Azerbaijan becomes permanent.

The comments come as political tensions grow ahead of the elections. Members of Pashinyan’s ruling Civil Contract Party have recently warned that opposition groups could unite and gain a parliamentary majority.

Those opposition forces include blocs connected to former president Robert Kocharyan, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, and businessman Gagik Tsarukyan. If they cooperate after the election, they could potentially form a coalition government.

Officials from the ruling party have stated that the Armenian authorities “will not allow” such a scenario. These remarks have raised concerns among opposition leaders, who fear possible election manipulation or other irregularities.

Opposition figures strongly criticize Pashinyan’s policies toward Azerbaijan. They argue that agreements promoted by the government would not create lasting peace because they involve unilateral concessions by Armenia.

According to these critics, Pashinyan’s approach risks encouraging Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to demand additional concessions from Armenia in the future.

The conflict between the government and the Armenian Apostolic Church has intensified over the past year. Pashinyan began a controversial campaign to remove the head of the church, Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, after the church leader publicly accused Azerbaijan of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and occupying Armenian border territories.

Karekin II made those accusations during an international conference in Switzerland last May. In the months that followed, four senior church figures were detained. Three of them were later transferred to house arrest.

Earlier this year, Armenian law-enforcement authorities also filed charges against Karekin II himself along with six other archbishops and bishops. The authorities also imposed travel restrictions on them, preventing them from attending an emergency episcopal conference held in Austria last month.

Participants of the conference expressed their support for the Catholicos and criticized the actions taken against the Armenian Church in a joint statement signed by 25 church representatives.

Critics of the government argue that the campaign against the church violates Armenia’s constitution and legal guarantees that ensure the independence of the Armenian Apostolic Church from the state.

Some international organizations have also raised concerns. Two Western religious freedom groups voiced criticism earlier in February. One of them, the Vienna-based Forum for Religious Freedom Europe, warned that recent developments in Armenia represent “grave threats to freedom of religion or belief.”

—

Support independent reporting from the region by subscribing to The Armenian Report. Our team is funded solely by readers like you.