One country which traditionally has close relations with Armenia is France, where a large diaspora population also lives. Camille Victor has been monitoring French media to look at how they have been reporting the elections.

France seems to have a particular interest in the Armenian elections, with numerous national newspapers and media outlets, such as Le Monde, Le Figaro and France 24, amongst others, closely following the elections. Although 25 parties and blocs are competing for votes, French news media almost systematically concentrates its attention on the two main contenders, Nikol Pashinyan and Robert Kocharyan, and their respective parties.

Many reports have undertones of implicit sympathy for Pashinyan’s more “democratic” governance style, at the expense of the “authoritarian” and “corrupt” characteristics of Kocharyan’s leadership.

A reporter of France 24 in Yerevan today (20 June) said Pashinyan “embodies the democratic aspirations of the country”, contrasting with Kocharyan’s description as a “stronger” man, yet “associated with the worst years of the country, with anti-democratic practices, and whose figure remains associated with the bloody repression of the 2008 opposition protests”.

On 1 June, Pashinyan paid a visit to Armenia where he was warmly greeted at the Elysee Palace. President Emmanuel Macron noted on that occasion: “I am pleased to host Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Paris. Dear Nikol, we have worked hard together in recent years in support of your commitment to promoting democracy and fighting corruption”. He added that "France is alongside Armenia, and we will do our best to bring stability and prosperity to this country”.