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Eurasia
December 7, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 26
nine seats in the just dissolved parliament and he had to manage to rule with the support of the Tsarukyan Alliance and the Armenian Revolution- ary Federation (ARF).
By contrast, the HHK still dominated the 105-seat chamber with 50 MPs, while those of its ally, the Prosperous Armenia Party, brought its total to
88. However, since the HHK is now polling at less than 2%, the chances are that it will be virtually wiped out in the Sunday election.
With Pashinian’s bloc virtually assured of a de- cisive victory, attention is turning to his post- election plans. Fitch Solutions analysts talks of
a “widespread shift in policy” but anticipate that this will be concentrated “on the domestic front” rather than in the country’s international position, in particular its critical strategic relationship with regional big power Russia, which maintains mili- tary bases in Armenia.
As the IRI poll showed, among Armenians who view Pashinian’s government positively, the top reason given was that it had decreased corrup- tion, followed by “brought democracy” and a more
Iran’s missile launch tests Europe’s nuclear deal patience
bne IntelliNews
Iran's latest missile test provoked a rare display of unity between the US and Europe on policy towards the Islamic Republic, with the Trump administration as well as France and the UK saying it may have been in violation of a security council resolution.
general “improved psychological state of the people”. First the head of the territorial admin- istration ministry’s migration service and later Pashinian highlighted the reversal in emigration from the country in the months since the people’s revolution, though it is too soon to tell whether the changes will have a lasting impact on Arme- nia’s demographic crisis. The Armenian diaspora numbers some eight million people by some estimates, far exceeding the population of the homeland.
Yerevan’s relationship with Moscow, meanwhile, has proved a vexed question ever since Pashinian came to power, with Russia in late October ac- cusing the US of making a barely disguised at- tempt to shift Armenia’s allegiances away from its traditional ally. Reflecting the importance of the relationship — especially in the context of Arme- nia’s hostile relations with its immediate neigh- bours Armenia and Turkey — Pashinian’s first trip as prime minister was to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pashinian also back-pedalled on statements he made as opposition leader such as previous calls for Armenia’s withdrawal from the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.
A missile launch during a testing exercise conducted in Iran's semi-desert Makran coastal strip two years ago, according to the country's semi-official Fars News Agency.
France described the weekend test of what the US said was a medium-range multi-warhead missile capable of reaching Europe as "provocative and destabilising". It did not "conform" with UN Resolution 2231, passed in 2015 as part of the multilateral nuclear deal between Tehran and