Pashinyan tells top brass: What once seemed impossible has been achieved

On the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, Army Day, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Ministry of Defense and participated in a meeting with top military officials.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan delivered speeches at the ceremony. 

In his speech, the Prime Minister touched upon the reforms being implemented in the sector and emphasized the importance of this process in a changing world. “When we do not change in a changing world, we remain outside the world, and that, unfortunately, has happened to us several times throughout our history. We have decided to change this practice," the PM's office quoted him as saying in a readout. 

The Prime Minister considered the most important achievement of the army today to be the understanding of the need to constantly expand horizons. In this context, he also emphasized the importance of developing education in the sector, toward which necessary steps are being taken. “Today, a sergeant system is being introduced, which will be a turning point in the logic of the combat effectiveness of our Armed Forces, our army. This is a substantive change that has been discussed long and in detail, and which I consider very important. We are creating a completely new territorial defense system from scratch. This is also very significant,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister also touched upon the Homeland Defender program, noting that it provides a good opportunity for the professional orientation of young people toward military service. “We have never had such a system before, where we could gradually bring young people closer to military service and show them its advantages. Today, many 19-year-old servicemen take home 500,000–600,000 drams every month and live in their homes outside of combat duty.”

Within the framework of the reforms, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of perception and awareness among those serving in the field: what they are doing and why they are doing it. “This is the most important thing, because, as you all know, systemic resistance is the cruelest and is sometimes impossible to overcome. Everything that is happening, I want to emphasize, is the result of our joint efforts. I want us to appreciate this, because it is very important and has great value.”

Nikol Pashinyan also touched upon other reforms being implemented in the sector, including changes to uniforms, the acquisition of new weapons, digitalization, and ensuring promotion based on performance and the quality of service. The Prime Minister emphasized that work in these areas must continue.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need to add new security buffers in order to ensure the country’s security, so that the army does not become the sole mechanism for ensuring security. “We cannot place the entire burden of security on the army. Today, we have achieved this through a very difficult process. What priorities have we set for the army? The first priority is legitimacy—international legitimacy. When the state and the army rely on international legitimacy in their work, the situation is fundamentally different than when they do not,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

According to the Prime Minister, the next priority is interdependence, which should ensure external security. “We must create an environment of relations with the outside world in which the country becomes an important part of the global supply chain, making its security and stability important for many others, including neighboring countries and superpowers. Conversely, instability should be perceived as a threat by the region and the international community. The ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project and the TRIPP project arising from it, through which goods will flow through the territory of the Republic of Armenia from east to west and from north to south, create such an opportunity for our country. We rely on—and will continue to rely on—this strategic perception,” said Nikol Pashinyan, adding that this serves as a guarantee of security.

The Prime Minister noted that the next priority is long-term predictability, which must be seriously assessed. According to Nikol Pashinyan, the ideology of Real Armenia is precisely about this: “We state that the Republic of Armenia is a territory of 29,743 square kilometers, and that this territory is a state whose task is to ensure the security and well-being of its citizens within its internationally recognized borders.”

According to the Prime Minister, the most important guarantee of security is peace. “There is no more reliable guarantee than peace. Today, we are building peace through difficult and hard decisions. The path to peace will not be easy, but we must continue along it. At the same time, the principled position of the army and the Armed Forces is crucial: they must remain focused on their mission. Regardless of peace, regardless of how reliable it may be, we must have a strong and capable army, because any country without one becomes a temptation for others. Therefore, the primary agenda of the Republic of Armenia must always include the existence and continuous development of a strong and capable army, based on the principles I have outlined.”

Summing up his speech, Nikol Pashinyan once again congratulated the Armed Forces on their 34th anniversary and thanked everyone for the tremendous work accomplished. “I want to express my satisfaction with the current situation in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia—not because we have reached our final goal, but because we are unequivocally on the right path. In recent years, in many areas, it must be stated frankly that what once seemed impossible has been achieved, the impossible has become reality, and this is an extremely important accomplishment.”

On the occasion of Army Day, PM Nikol Pashinyan presented awards to a group of servicemen of the for their contribution to the security and defense of the homeland.