In 2023 Armenia finally lost a decades-long intermittent(间歇性的) war against neighbouring Azerbaijan over a bit of territory known as Nagorno-Karabakh(①详细背景：纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫（简称纳卡...). Since then Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s prime minister, has been trying to wrest a diplomatic victory from the jaws of military defeat(从军事失败的虎口中夺取外交胜利). Let down by Russia, Armenia’s longtime patron(保护者，赞助人), he is pivot(转向，调整方向)ing to America and Europe and working on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. On June 7th voters will give their verdict on his efforts in a general election. Opinion polls suggest he will probably win.
2023年，亚美尼亚最终在与邻国阿塞拜疆就纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫这一小块领土进行的持续数十年的间歇性战争中失败。此后，亚美尼亚总理尼科尔·帕希尼扬一直试图从军事失败的虎口中夺取外交胜利。被长期庇护者俄罗斯辜负后，他正转向美国和欧洲，并与阿塞拜疆进行和平条约谈判。6月7日，选民将在普选中对他的努力做出裁决。民调显示他很可能获胜。
European leaders have lent their support. On May 4th Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, hosted a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC)(①详细背景：欧洲政治共同体（EPC）成立...), a group of countries in and around the European Union. The next day the EU held its first bilateral(双边的) summit with Armenia. The bloc(集团，联盟) is offering Armenia up to €2.5bn ($2.9bn) in infrastructure funding—more than 10% of its annual GDP. Armenia hopes to become a member one day.
欧洲领导人已表示支持。5月4日，亚美尼亚首都埃里温主办了欧洲政治共同体（EPC）会议，该组织由欧盟及其周边国家组成。次日，欧盟举行了与亚美尼亚的首次双边峰会。欧盟正计划向亚美尼亚提供高达25亿欧元（约29亿美元）的基础设施资金——超过其年GDP的10%。亚美尼亚希望有朝一日成为成员国。
Plenty of Armenians dislike Mr Pashinyan. Murals of fallen soldiers dot(遍布，点缀) Yerevan, reminders of his failures during the war. Outside the EPC summit, protesters waved the flag of Artsakh, the erstwhile(以前的，曾经的) ethnic-Armenian statelet(小国，微型国家) in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some refugees from the territory wanted their relatives’ bodies to be transported to Armenia; others called for Azerbaijan to free prisoners-of-war. Several demonstrators predicted that the pro-Western pivot(亲西方的转向) would backfire(适得其反，产生反效果). “He is turning Armenia into a playground for geopolitical games(地缘政治游戏的游乐场),” says one young man who fled Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023.
许多亚美尼亚人不喜欢帕希尼扬。埃里温街头遍布阵亡士兵壁画，提醒着他战争中的失败。在EPC峰会外，抗议者挥舞着阿尔扎赫的旗帜——这个纳卡地区曾经的亚美尼亚族小国。一些来自该地区的难民希望将亲人的遗体运回亚美尼亚；其他人则呼吁阿塞拜疆释放战俘。几名示威者预言亲西方转向会适得其反。“他正在把亚美尼亚变成地缘政治游戏的游乐场，”一位2023年逃离纳卡的年轻人说。