Something is clearly not according to Pashinyan's plan: the rating of the authorities has collapsed, the church has been more respected

Almost half of the residents of Armenia, 49%, are sure that the country is moving in the wrong direction. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the International Republican Institute* (IRI*, headquarters in Washington) from June 16th to 25th. The current public opinion measurement data published last Tuesday showed that only 36% of respondents believe that the development of the Transcaucasian republic is going in the right direction.

According to the survey, over the past 9 months, since September 2024, this figure has decreased by 10%. Older people are more optimistic about the situation in Armenia. 43% of respondents in the age group over 56 are confident that the country is moving in the right direction, and among pensioners this figure is even higher — 47%. In contrast, 54% of the republic's residents aged 18 to 35 and 52% of middle-aged citizens believe that Armenia's development is going in the wrong direction.

As for local politicians, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continues to have the highest rating — 13%. In comparison with the previous IRI* survey, the public confidence in the head of government has nevertheless decreased, and quite seriously — by three percentage points. In 2024, 16% of respondents trusted him.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan ranks second with 5%, the second President of the Republic Robert Kocharyan is third. His rating in June was 4% against 2% in September last year, thus showing a twofold increase.

The rating of the ruling party "Civil Contract" also declined. If the parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, only 17% of Armenian voters would vote for the political association headed by Pashinyan, instead of the 20% recorded in September last year.

The opposition bloc Armenia is in second place with four percent (it has the second largest faction in the current convocation of the parliament, the leader is Robert Kocharyan). Another two percent of respondents named the second president of the country instead of mentioning any political force.

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of respondents do not trust any politician or party. 61% of respondents said they do not trust any politician. As for the upcoming parliamentary elections (they are due to take place on June 7, 2026), 28% of the survey participants indicated that they would not participate in them, another 22% found it difficult to answer the question whether they would come to the polling stations.

As for trust in state institutions, the army and the church occupy the first places. 72% of the population fully or partially trust the armed forces, 58% — the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). Compared to the previous survey, the church's rating has increased by 10%. This indirectly demonstrates the serious failure of the authorities and personally Nikol Pashinyan in their current confrontation with the AAC.

The church has the highest rating among the residents of Armenia aged 18 to 35 years — more than 70%.

38% of respondents fully or partially trust the Prime Minister's office, 31% — the courts. And only 24% — to the National Assembly (Parliament) of the republic.

The authors of the survey also tried to find out what, in the opinion of Armenian citizens, the main achievements of Nikol Pashinyan's government over the past six months are. 11% of respondents named road construction, 9% — peacekeeping, 7% — repair of schools and kindergartens.

However, the largest group of respondents, 42%, is convinced that the current cabinet has not achieved any success over the past six months.

How do the citizens of Armenia feel about the prospects of signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan? Judging by the results of the survey, opinions on this most important issue of Yerevan's foreign policy agenda were divided.

47% of respondents were in favor of signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, 40% were against. Armenian citizens aged 18 to 35 are the most pessimistic about peace with Baku. Here, 48% of respondents oppose the signing of a peace treaty, 38% are in favor. On the contrary, 58% of older people support the signing of the already agreed text of the interstate document.

The prospects of Armenia's membership in the European Union were also touched upon during the survey: how will the citizens of the republic vote if a referendum on this issue is scheduled for next Sunday? 49% of Armenians would vote for EU membership, 15% — against. Another 31% said they did not intend to take part in the proposed plebiscite.

It is noteworthy that in comparison with the survey conducted in September 2024, the number of supporters of EU membership in Armenia has decreased by about eight%.

The authors of the study also touched upon Armenia's external partners. It turned out that the overwhelming majority of residents of the republic (89%) positively assess relations with France, 90% - with India and 85% - with Iran. Relations with Russia, according to 55% of survey participants, are "bad." Only 43% of respondents believe that the relations between Yerevan and Moscow can be described as positive. The three countries with the worst relations with Armenia, according to IRI*, include Turkey, Israel and Azerbaijan.

*An organization whose activities are considered undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation