Also: Secret document reveals Russia’s plans to aid Iran
May 11th 2026 For subscribers
Café Europa
The best of _The Economist_ ’s European coverage
Image: GETTY IMAGES
Armenia is pivoting to the West, but its people are divided
Fraser McIlwraith
Foreign correspondent
The road was bumpier than I had expected and as my taxi chugged uphill, weaving around street dogs, I felt a little embarrassed. I had asked my driver to take me from the centre of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, to Zovuni, a village to the city’s north. It is not somewhere visitors usually go. Lately, however, a giant sculpture has been drawing crowds. Towering over the villagers’ homes was the top section of a statue depicting Jesus Christ. In a yard behind it stood his midriff and his legs. Soon they will be taken to the top of a nearby mountain and assembled like Lego. Pedestal included, it will be one of the tallest statues of Jesus in the world.
The Armenian Apostolic Church, which forbids making such statues, has taken a dim view of the structure. But that has not stopped Gagik Tsarukyan, one of Armenia’s richest men, from pressing ahead with it.
Mr Tsarukyan, who leads a minor pro-Russian party called Prosperous Armenia, has said he hopes the edifice will unite Armenia in “difficult times”. The country is moving towards peace with Azerbaijan after a series of crushing defeats since 2020. I had read about Mr Tsarukyan’s project in local news outlets. And as someone interested in the role of money, religion and nationalism in Armenian politics ahead of the country’s election on June 7th, I felt it was worth going to see.
Mr Tsarukyan’s party itself is too small to be especially relevant. In a poll from February, just 3% of respondents said they would vote for it. But the forces it embodies—Russia-friendly sentiment, oligarchic power and nationalism—are looming large over the campaign.
The most popular opposition party, Strong Armenia, is led by Samvel Karapetyan, another oligarch, who is under house arrest for calling for the government to be overthrown (a charge he denies). He has criticised Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s prime minister since 2018, for turning the country’s foreign policy towards the West. When I interviewed Mr Karapetyan in his glitzy mansion in the hills above Yerevan last week, he accused the government of being afraid of Azerbaijan and conceding to too many of its demands. He argues that Armenia should maintain good relations with Russia, its traditional partner, and styles himself as a defender of church elites, who have clashed with Mr Pashinyan over Armenia’s military defeats.
In the days before I met Mr Karapetyan, a very different vision for Armenia was on display in the capital. On May 4th Yerevan hosted a meeting of the European Political Community, a gathering of leaders from countries in and around the European Union. The following day Armenia held its first bilateral summit with the EU and opened the Yerevan Dialogue, an annual talkfest, where Emmanuel Macron gave an address. The French president showered Mr Pashinyan with praise. “I know that for a long time many believed Armenia’s fate could only be under Russia’s supposedly protective wing,” said Mr Macron. Now Armenia was on “a democratic path…of peace…and of prosperity possible without imperial hegemony”.
Together, the events made up a kind of unofficial pre-election rally for Mr Pashinyan and his open, pro-European vision for Armenia. Mr Pashinyan will almost certainly win on June 7th: his Civil Contract party is ahead of Strong Armenia by more than 15 percentage points in the polls. Nevertheless, after the election, he will have to temper the week’s optimism with realism. Armenia is a long way from ever becoming a member, or even a candidate for membership, of the EU. Its economy is still heavily dependent on Russia: in the short term, Mr Pashinyan will need to focus on gradually building up trade with the EU and other countries, such as Turkey. Lots more work needs to be done to reform the country’s institutions, which decayed under strongman rule before Mr Pashinyan came to power.
If he can do that, he may convince more Armenians to set aside nationalist sentiment and historic sympathies for Russia and win them over to his idea of a more liberal, pro-European future. But doing so will take time. Until then, Armenia will remain a country divided.
What would you like to see us cover? Please send your thoughts and comments to cafeeuropa@economist.com.
Editor’s picks
A selection of must-read articles
Turning the tide of war
Russia is stumbling on the battlefield
As casualties soar in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin looks ever more beleaguered at home
→| How a Ukrainian strike on a Russian oil hub caused catastrophe
→| The War Room newsletter: Is Russia being out-droned?
Deniable optics
Secret document reveals Russia’s plans to aid Iran
Unjammable drones would be used against American forces, according to proposals seen by The Economist
The off-chancellor
Friedrich Merz can’t go on like this
His one-year-old government looks exhausted, and voters are tiring rapidly
→| Donald Trump’s threat to withdraw troops is serious for Europe
Simplify and integrate
The EU wants to unshackle its economy. For real this time
Eurocrats are belatedly developing a healthy distaste for red tape
→| Europe is unshackling business. But not enough
Pumpernickeled up
Germany claims it has the world’s best bread
May 5th is national Bread Day, and Germans are ready to roll
Nordic education
Why Swedish schools are going unplugged
Nordic pupils are returning to books and pens
From our Charlemagne columnist
Inside the Brussels deep state
The eurocratic guild at the heart of the EU is seeing its influence ebb
A mason present for the laying of the cornerstone of a great European cathedral knew he was unlikely to be around to see the edifice completed, decades or even centuries later. And yet in Chartres, Milan, Aachen and beyond, a brotherhood of true believers devoted their lives to building edifices that would endure long after they were dust. One millennium or so later, a new guild is building its own _grand projet_.
Read the full article →
More of our Europe coverage
▸| By Invitation: Vladimir Putin is losing his grip on Russia
▸| The history of Moscow helps explain Russia’s pathologies
▸| UniCredit’s lowball bid for Commerzbank causes consternation
Recommendations from our journalists
More to read, listen to and watch
▸| Romania has been “chronically unstable for years”, writes Keno Verseck for DW. “Now another government has fallen.” On May 5th the Social Democrats teamed up with the far-right Alliance for the Union for Romanians (AUR) to topple Ilie Bolojan, prime minister. Since 2012 he writes in this excellent explainer, the country has had “11 elected prime ministers, seven interim leaders and 19 different cabinets.” One conclusion: A snap election could see AUR come to power. _Tim Judah, Balkans correspondent
▸| Last week, I found myself on page 155 of an EU impact assessment on financial market integration, to look for the source of a supposedly large boost to GDP. The source left me, to put it politely, unconvinced. That reminded me how important it is to take any headline figure on economic effects with a pinch of salt. One such figure, from the IMF no less, is that the EU has internal border costs of a tariff-equivalent of 45% on goods, and a whopping 110% on services. An analysis by two economists digs deeper, and finds that the 45/110 figure is at the higher end of such estimates, and that in addition to regulatory barriers, different regional tastes and fewer social connections across borders play a significant role, which eurocrats can do little about. _Christian Odendahl, European economics editor
▸| “Tucci in Italy”, a five-part travel documentary, showcases Italy’s unique culinary contrasts and richness: from blood oranges cultivated in the volcanic soil around Mount Etna in Sicily to Tiramisu in Veneto. Stanley Tucci—an actor, passionate home cook and author of many books about food—delights in both simple and elaborate dishes. An outdoor enthusiast and advocate for fresh, locally sourced produce, he explores the diet of the elderly in Sicilian villages and their sense of community, both conducive to longevity. Season two is available to watch on Disney+. _Fani Papageorgiou, Staff writer
Asia Bulletin
Your guide to politics, trade and tumult in Asia
Get exclusive analysis and colourful dispatches tackling the biggest political, social and economic stories from a vast region
Download our app for iOS and Android
This email has been sent to spence.burleigh@gmail.com because you signed up for this newsletter or because it is included in your subscription.
Registered in England and Wales. No. 236383.
The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6HT
View email onlinePrivacy PolicyTerms & Conditions
Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2026. All rights reserved.
This email was sent to: spence.burleigh@gmail.com
This email was sent by: The Economist Newspaper Ltd., The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London, London, WC2N 6HT, GB