Lene Wetteland: Pashinyan is Armenian Navalny, who succeeded

Lene Wetteland, an adviser of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, who has been working in Armenia since March 2008, told in her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" why Armenian citizens managed to achieve Serzh Sargsyan's resignation; how Nikol Pashinyan's position is estimated now; and what should be expected from the "Republicans".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 23, Serzh Sargsyan, a former President, who had been elected by the MPs to the post of Prime Minister only six days before, announced his resignation. He explained that he was fulfilling the opposition's demand.

"I was in Armenia in 2008, 2015 and 2016. The 2018 protests differ from the previous ones in that young people are more actively involved in the present protest actions," Ms Wetteland has pointed out.

According to her story, there were many protests in Armenia before, but they lacked something; there was no hope for success. "Only now, when Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of the protest movement, managed to consolidate people, all the success factors were clearly visible. He can be compared with Alexei Navalny in Russia, who is not universally supported, but who also manages to gather masses around his ideas," Lene Wetteland has stated.

She has noted that it is difficult to forecast the further development of events: "The Republicans are now afraid for their status after the next elections. It is not clear what may be the target of further protests after Sargsyan's resignation; although the RPA (Republican Party of Armenia) has huge administrative resources in all spheres."

Read the full transcript of the Caucasian knot interview with Lene Wetteland here.