Will the elections be rigged through “new citizens”— What do the official data show?

Ahead of the parliamentary elections, claims have been circulating regularly on social media that the authorities are planning to influence the election results by granting Armenian citizenship to large numbers of foreigners. 

This story has been presented at different times in different ways: there has been talk of Indians registering to participate in the elections, 12,000 homeless Greeks, and then 20,000 low-income citizens of Greece. But in all cases the narrative is the same, that the election result will be influenced by bringing in people from abroad.

But what do the official data show? How many foreigners have obtained Armenian citizenship to support these circulating claims? 

From homeless to low-income Greeks: new versions of the same story 

Since February 2026, videos have been circulating on social media claiming that Armenian citizenship was granted to 12,000 homeless Greeks in order to secure Nikol Pashinyan’s victory in the parliamentary elections. 

“Experts are confident that these ‘new Armenians’ will be brought into the republic during the elections to take part in the voting and ensure Pashinyan’s victory,” read a post on the Telegram channel Шкварка 2.0. 

Later, starting on May 6, another claim began to spread on social media, according to which at least 20,000 low-income Greeks had also obtained Armenian citizenship.

Later, starting on May 21, posts also began circulating claiming that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, had confirmed that 20,000 Greeks had received Armenian citizenship.

Neither 12,000 nor 20,000: what the official statistics show 

In response to a #CivilNetCheck inquiry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that Armenian citizenship was granted to 12,462 individuals in 2025, of whom 11,458 were ethnic Armenians. The Ministry also clarified to #CivilNetCheck that this statistic does not include persons forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh who have acquired Armenian citizenship.

From January to April 30, 2026, Armenian citizenship was granted to 11,573 individuals, of whom 11,186 were ethnic Armenians, in this case including persons forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh (7,182 in all), according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 

During the same period, only 5 citizens of Greece were granted Armenian citizenship.

Therefore, the claim that 12,000 or 20,000 Greeks obtained Armenian citizenship does not correspond to reality. The Prime Minister’s press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, also made no statement about 20,000 Greeks obtaining Armenian citizenship, and denied it in a conversation with #CivilNetCheck.

Who is behind the fake news?

All the posts circulating on social media are presented in the format of short videos. The videos are mostly in English and are branded with the logos of international or local media outlets, such as Greece’s EPT and Armenia’s Armenpress. However, these outlets have not published these reports, and their logos were added without their permission to make the materials appear credible.

At the same time, the videos are being spread via old accounts that have been inactive for years and have low engagement, yet gather a suspiciously large number of views. This method of dissemination is characteristic of the “Matryoshka” disinformation campaign, which is linked to Russian influence operations.

These posts are also actively circulated in Russian-language Telegram channels (1,2, 3, 4), which regularly spread false and manipulative information about Armenia.

See: How Telegram networks spread disinformation about Armenia

Notably, similar claims about influencing election results through foreigners were also circulating ahead of the snap local government elections held in Gyumri on March 30, 2025. At that time, information spread on social media and in the press that large numbers of Indians were registering to participate in the elections. However, #CivilNetCheck found those claims to be unfounded.

See: Reports of mass registration of Indians and Javakhk Armenians for the Gyumri elections are unfounded