Hyundai Rotem and Kia are set to participate in Eurosatory 2026, one of the world’s largest and most influential defense exhibitions, taking place in Paris from Monday through Friday. The South Korean companies will present a wide range of advanced military technologies, including armored vehicles, tactical mobility platforms and next-generation unmanned systems, AzerNEWS reports, citing Korean media.
Day: June 15, 2026
Amnesty International, a UK-based human rights organization, said Georgia’s ruling party has built a “sophisticated architecture of repression” over the 500 days of protests through what it described as restrictive legislation, police abuses, disinformation campaigns, and judicial practices aimed at suppressing dissent.
In a June 15 report titled “Georgia: Anatomy of Repression: 500 Days of Protest, Crackdown and Resilience,” the organization examined developments since the Georgian Dream government announced on November 28, 2024, that it would halt the country’s EU accession process until 2028.
“Since spring 2024, and especially since the mass daily protests that began on 28 November 2024, the authorities have used the full machinery of the state to deter, punish and extinguish dissent,” the watchdog said, adding that the information space has been “weaponized” to brand civil society organizations, independent media, opposition figures, and protesters as “foreign agents,” “extremists” or “threats to national security.” It added that “these narratives have not remained rhetorical” and “they have often been followed by harassment, physical attacks, investigations, prosecutions, asset freezes and other punitive measures.”
“Georgia’s experience over the last three years is a cautionary tale of how governments can rapidly turn state institutions into potent tools of repression for the sake of entrenching their own power,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, according to the organization’s press release.
The report said that Georgian authorities have built “a sophisticated architecture of repression, and “what took many years to develop in other contexts has been assembled in Georgia with striking speed: a coordinated system in which disinformation, restrictive laws, abusive policing and weaponized judicial processes reinforce one another in a quest to entrench power.”
According to the organization, “thousands have experienced arrest,” while “hundreds of people have been beaten in the streets, humiliated in detention and subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.” It further said that more than 150 protesters, activists, and government critics have been imprisoned following what it described as “politically motivated and unfair proceedings, with little prospect of finding justice.”
The report argued that civic space in Georgia has been “severely restricted,” as organizations assisting victims of abuses have faced threats, attacks, investigations, asset freezes, and operational restrictions, while “independent journalists have
been physically targeted, harassed, prosecuted, cut off from funding and pushed into ‘survival mode’.”
The report also criticized a series of legislative amendments adopted by the Georgian Dream “with no meaningful consultation,” that have “unduly restricted the rights to freedom of association, expression, including media freedom, and peaceful assembly.”
It further argued that “measures framed as protecting ‘transparency’, ‘sovereignty’, ‘public order’ or ‘family values’ have in practice imposed intrusive state control, introduced sweeping police powers, heavy fines, administrative and criminal liability, suffocating Georgia’s once vibrant civil society.”
According to the organization, the police have been given a “new legal architecture to increase its coercive force,” as they have repeatedly used “unlawful and punitive force against largely peaceful protesters, including beatings and arbitrary arrests,” adding that the “misuse of less lethal weapons has affected thousands of protestors and injured many more.”
It said that “the coordinated nature of these abuses points to a state-sanctioned pattern of punishment,” arguing that effective investigations into alleged police abuses have been “rare,” as “Senior officials implicated in violent crackdowns have avoided accountability.”
The report also criticized Georgia’s judiciary, arguing that courts have “effectively enforced and legitimized the criminalization of peaceful protest” and have turned into “tools of rubber-stampers of injustice” by “punishing dissent, financially exhausting protesters and giving repression the veneer of legality.”
“As this report shows, this is not a chain of isolated abuses but rather a system of authoritarian practices intended to entrench power, where the formal appearance of the rule of law remains intact but its substance has been hollowed out,” the report concludes.
Recommendations
- Calls on Georgian Authorities
Amnesty International called on the Georgian authorities to halt “smearing campaigns” against dissent, saying that “all those affected must receive full and adequate reparation, including truth, restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and guarantees of non-repetition.” It also called on the authorities to “cease the use, and threats of use, of tax investigations, funding inquiries, and abuse of other regulatory mechanisms as instruments of harassing and delegitimizing media outlets.”
The organization called for the repeal of controversial legislation, including the Foreign Agents Law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Law on Grants, Broadcasting Law, amendments that penalized verbal insults against officials and amendemnts on “Speech and Expression” ensuring that “all national legislation regulating civil society organizations is brought in full conformity with Georgia’s international human rights obligations regarding the right to freedom of association, including the right to seek, receive and utilize resources from foreign and international sources.”
The organization also called for “prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of unlawful force during protests, including the use of tear gas, water cannons, and batons by police,” and urged the authorities to cooperate with “an independent international investigation into the chemical substances deployed against protesters in 2024 and 2025, should such an investigation be initiated.”
It further called on the authorities to ensure independent investigations into allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of people detained during the 2024-2025 protests, with the probe extended “to senior commanders who directed or acquiesced.”
Regarding the judiciary, the report urged Georgia to conduct an independent review of all criminal convictions of protesters and activists imposed since 2024. “All convictions found to have resulted from unfair proceedings must be quashed and those imprisoned released.”
- Recommendations to International Partners
Amnesty International also addressed the European Union, the Council of Europe, and other international partners, calling on them to “maintain and expand support to NGOs, human rights defenders and media outlets affected by smearing and disinformation campaigns.”
The report advised the international partners to “call on the Georgian government to repeal and amend the repressive legislation that is unduly restricting the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” and support the Venice Commission’s work in “assessing Georgia’s legislative programme and press the Georgian government to implement their recommendations in full.”
It further urged the EU to “impose an immediate and comprehensive embargo on the sale and transfer of all policing equipment to Georgia, including less-lethal weapons, surveillance technology, and vehicles, until an independent investigation into the use of chemical agents and other unlawful and abusive use of force by police has been completed, those responsible are held to account, and credible accountability mechanisms are in place.”
The organization also urged the international partners to “initiate investigations by the OPCW [Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] into the allegations regarding the use of chemical weapons against protesters to the OPCW and press for Georgian cooperation with any resulting investigation.”
The report additionally called on the Council of Europe and other international institutions to strengthen oversight of Georgia’s compliance with human rights obligations, monitor detention conditions of imprisoned protesters and opposition figures, and support the implementation of relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and recommendations issued by international human rights bodies.
Also Read:
- 13/06/2026 – CoE Ministers Committee Calls on Georgia to Revise Freedom of Assembly Laws
- 21/04/2026 – Georgia ‘Plunged Head-On Into Authoritarian Practices’, Amnesty Says in 2025 Report
- 20/04/2026 – Georgia in Freedom House Report Among Six New Countries Using ‘Tactics of Transnational Repression’
- 17/03/2026 – V-Dem Institute Report Again Classifies Georgia as ‘Electoral Autocracy’
Final results of Armenia’s 2026 election
Armenia‘s Central Election Commission has announced the final results of the parliamentary elections held on 7 June.
Three political forces won seats in parliament:
- the ruling Civil Contract party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan;
- the Strong Armenia alliance, led by Russian businessman Samvel Karapetyan;
- the Armenia alliance of former president Robert Kocharyan.
Prosperous Armenia, the party of businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, won 3.9893% of the vote and failed to clear the 4% electoral threshold.
The Central Election Commission invalidated the results at three of Armenia’s 2,005 polling stations. However, the commission will not hold repeat voting at those locations. The commission’s chairman said the violations could not have affected the overall outcome of the election.
The opposition disagrees. Six opposition groups, including Prosperous Armenia, issued a joint statement after the vote. They said that “systematic and organised violations took place during the elections, significantly affecting voters’ freedom of choice and the conditions for fair political competition”.
Under Armenian law, political parties can challenge the final election results in the Constitutional Court. Levon Kocharyan, a representative of the Armenia alliance, has already announced plans to file an appeal. Opposition groups also intend to discuss “other methods of struggle”.
According to political analyst Robert Ghevondyan, an appeal to the Constitutional Court would mark the first time since the 2018 revolution that political forces have challenged election results.
“I consider it unlikely that the election results will be declared invalid and that new elections will take place. However, given the political situation, such a possibility still exists,” he said.
Ghevondyan believes the new parliament will continue the “traditions” of the previous legislature, where opposition parties focused on disrupting parliamentary work rather than participating in it. He expects to see “disorder, tension, disputes and theatrical performances” in the new parliament.
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Protest takes place alongside CEC session
Representatives of three parties that took part in the elections — the Strong Armenia and Armenia alliances, as well as the Prosperous Armenia party — staged a protest outside the Central Election Commission. They demanded that the authorities annul the election results and hold a new vote. Opposition groups argued that “mass violations” had occurred during the electoral process.
“The only widespread phenomenon recorded during these elections was the distribution of large-scale vote-buying bribes,” Arusyak Julhakyan, a representative of the ruling party, said during the CEC session.
Throughout the election campaign, on election day and in its aftermath, the Anti-Corruption Committee reported dozens of alleged vote-buying cases. All of them involved three opposition forces. Investigators opened criminal cases and arrested several people.
Julhakyan stressed that the authorities had fully ensured citizens’ electoral rights during the vote.
Meanwhile, Iveta Tonoyan of Prosperous Armenia said that “the purpose of the CEC’s decision is to prevent Prosperous Armenia from entering parliament”. She argued that one person — Prime Minister Pashinyan — controls the commission.
“At the polling stations where the authorities invalidated the results, Prosperous Armenia won more than 200 votes. If officials had counted those votes, the party would have entered parliament and Civil Contract would have lost its three-fifths majority. Yet the CEC claims this would not have had a significant impact on the final results,” said Levon Kocharyan of the Armenia alliance.
A three-fifths majority in parliament will allow the ruling party to adopt or amend constitutional laws on its own, including the electoral and judicial codes. It will also allow the party to elect the ombudsman and appoint judges to the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation without support from the opposition.
How many votes did the ruling party and opposition forces receive?
According to the Central Election Commission’s final statement, the ruling Civil Contract party won 726,819 votes, or 49.7456% of the total vote.
The three opposition forces seeking parliamentary representation received the following results:
- Strong Armenia alliance — 340,006 votes (23.2710%);
- Armenia alliance — 144,983 votes (9.9231%);
- Prosperous Armenia party — 58,287 votes (3.9893%).
After officials conducted a recount following the publication of the preliminary results, the vote totals for all parties decreased slightly. However, the adjustment had a significant impact only on Prosperous Armenia, which failed to clear the 4% electoral threshold.
Ruling party to hold 64 of 105 seats
During a session held on the evening of 14 June, CEC chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan announced the distribution of parliamentary mandates:
- Civil Contract — 61 seats;
- Strong Armenia alliance — 28 seats;
- Armenia alliance — 12 seats.
He also announced that Civil Contract would receive three additional seats reserved for national minorities, representing the Yezidi, Russian and Kurdish communities. Strong Armenia will receive one additional minority seat representing the Assyrian community.
As a result, Civil Contract will hold 64 seats in the 105-member parliament, Strong Armenia will have 29 seats and the Armenia alliance will hold 12 seats.
“The decision takes effect upon publication and may be challenged in the Constitutional Court until 18:00 on the fifth day following its publication,” the CEC chairman said.
Why will there be no repeat vote? The CEC’s explanation
Armenia’s Central Election Commission invalidated the election results at three polling stations.
At polling stations 35/65 and 10/51, the commission acted after representatives of the Strong Armenia alliance complained that military personnel had cast ballots after 20:00.
At polling station 12/13, the commission cited the absence of ballot papers for the National Democratic Pole party.
“The commission should not automatically call repeat elections after invalidating the results at a polling station. When making such a decision, the CEC must take into account both the protection of voters’ genuine will and the legality of the election results,” the commission said.
The CEC justified its decision not to hold a repeat vote as follows:
“A voter’s choice may no longer reflect their original political preferences or free expression of will. Instead, voters may calculate how to influence results that are already known. This risk is commonly described as tactical voting.
Because tactical voting may occur, a repeat vote does not guarantee a fair election outcome.”
The commission also argued that a repeat vote could violate the principle of voter equality, because one group of voters would find itself in significantly different circumstances from all others.
According to the CEC, authorities should not hold repeat elections if they “cannot guarantee a free, equal and fair outcome”.
“By refusing to hold a repeat vote, the commission is not ignoring the violation. Rather, it is rejecting a measure that could distort voters’ will even further,” the commission said.
Opposition statement: ‘Official results do not reflect the will of the people’
Six opposition forces that took part in the election — the Strong Armenia and Armenia alliances, as well as the Prosperous Armenia, Bright Armenia, Armenian National Congress and National Democratic Pole parties — issued a joint statement.
They argued that “systematic and organised violations” occurred throughout the electoral process, including:
- the widespread use of administrative resources and pressure;
- political persecution and arrests;
- deliberate obstruction of opposition campaign headquarters;
- abuse of information and campaigning tools;
- selective invalidation of vote-counting results.
“The official figures do not reflect the true will of the people or the actual election results. Results recorded under such conditions cannot serve as the basis for forming a legitimate government that enjoys the confidence of the majority of the population,” the statement said.
The opposition also argued that Nikol Pashinyan and his “regime” bear “full responsibility for any further escalation of the situation” in the country.
At the same time, opposition leaders said they would act exclusively within the framework of the constitution, the law and democratic principles.
‘Those who handed out election bribes will not get another chance’ – Pashinyan
“According to the logic of some people, the Republic of Armenia should apologise to those who handed out election bribes because those bribes did not fully translate into the election results. Therefore, they believe these forces should receive a second, third, fourth and fifth chance,” the Armenian prime minister said.
He described that logic as absurd. Pashinyan said the forces that distributed election bribes would not receive “a single additional chance” and argued that “the people decided this through their vote”.
In a separate video statement, Pashinyan said the three opposition forces “cannot do anything for one simple reason: they do not have, never had and never will have the support of the people”.
“The people have clearly demanded that this three-headed mafia be brought to its knees and destroyed. That must inevitably happen,” Pashinyan said, referring to the Strong Armenia and Armenia alliances, as well as the Prosperous Armenia party.
Reactions
Political analyst Tigran Grigoryan said:
“The CEC did not order a repeat vote at the polling stations where it invalidated the results. That decision directly affects both Prosperous Armenia’s failure to enter parliament and the number of seats allocated to Civil Contract. The ruling party gains three additional seats and secures a three-fifths majority.
They spent an entire week ‘fighting’ to prevent Russia from suddenly discrediting the election results. Then, in full public view and amid renewed calls to dismantle criminal-oligarchic forces, they awarded themselves three additional mandates in what appears to be a clear violation of the law.
As a result, they are effectively undermining the legitimacy of the election outcome. Of course, people will now explain that they are engaging in obvious lawlessness in the name of sovereignty and democracy. But that is no longer the main issue.
This sets a very dangerous precedent and shows that the ruling force no longer has any red lines.”
Human rights defender and Independent Observer mission representative Daniel Ioannisyan said:
“The CEC should have focused on the political forces that benefited from vote-buying rather than acting as it did and violating the law.
The commission should have disqualified the beneficiaries of election bribery from participating in the vote. There was extensive evidence that people distributed bribes in their favour. The CEC has both the authority and the obligation to act in such cases. That would have been a far more justified decision than what the commission actually did by placing a legal time bomb beneath the election results.
The CEC has effectively and unlawfully taken away the mandates that Prosperous Armenia would not have received without vote-buying conducted in its favour. It will be interesting to see how the Constitutional Court judges respond.
As the saying goes, a thief stole from another thief, and God — in this case the Constitutional Court — saw it and was astonished.”
Final results of Armenia’s 2026 election
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