Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the National Security Service and participated in the ceremonial session dedicated to the Day of the National Security Service Employees.

The Prime Minister made a speech in which he stated:

"Dear Director of the National Security Service,
Dear Deputy Directors,
Dear employees of the National Security Service,

I congratulate everyone on the occasion of the National Security Service Employee's day.

First of all, I want to thank all of you for the work done and being done. Of course, like the work of all of us, the work of the National Security Service is not perfect and could not be, but I must note that, in general, the National Security Service fulfilled the task of ensuring security during the last year. And in this regard, we are sure that the quality of work of the National Security Service is improving, and of course, the government will encourage this process in every possible way."

Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the institutional strengthening of the National Security Service and state institutions of our country is a priority for the government. "And the National Security Service does not occupy a secondary place in terms of this attention, and the director has already mentioned, since 2018, funding for the National Security Service has essentially tripled.

We should note here that the increase of these funds mainly serves three main purposes. The first is the technical equipment of the service, the second is also the improvement of the infrastructure. And we also consider it very important that significant funds are allocated to improve the social condition of employees and increase salaries. For this, the voluntary certification process is important. I know that, as in many of our important institutions, there is some pessimism towards the voluntary certification process from the beginning, but the people and the government of the Republic of Armenia have two problems to solve. The first is that civil servants, including those in the National Security Service, receive increasingly higher salaries, commensurate with the importance of their service. And secondly, it's very important that we, with all due respect to each and everyone's professional abilities, but in general, it's true that in every job there is a necessity to give everyone an extra incentive, so that we can focus on increasing our professional abilities and skills.

We are constantly discussing this issue with the Director of the National Security Service, that it is very important to fill the vacancies in the service with new personnel, young people, in a propper way so that the representatives of the older generation have the time and opportunity to transfer the experience they have accumulated over many years to them, so that the service tries to increase the quality of its work at a faster rate with this merger of energy," the Prime Minister noted.

Nikol Pashinyan also highlighted the continuation of the sector reforms in the National Security Service. "My assessment is that after 2018, maybe even before that, sometimes disproportionate tasks are set before the National Security Service, which of course, as I already said, the National Security Service carries out with honor. But on the other hand, I think that for the future and from a strategic perspective, we should focus the capabilities of the National Security Service on three main directions, one of which is, obviously, counter-intelligence, the second is the protection of the constitutional order, and the third is the fight against terrorism. Of course, all these functions actually sound very short, but they are comprehensive, deep and multi-faceted and multi-layered functions related to the key and vital issue of ensuring the security of the state. Of course, in this regard, we will continue increasing the capabilities of the National Security Service," the Prime Minister emphasized.

Nikol Pashinyan added that Border Guard troops will continue to be an integral part of the National Security Service, at least in the foreseeable future. "Also, the fight against smuggling remains among the operational functions of the National Security Service. The Director noted that the issue of the normal operation of the infrastructure of the " Crossroads of Peace" will also be assigned to the National Security Service, but obviously the service should not solve all these problems alone, just a precise division of work should take place. In this regard, I see that we are moving forward with consistent, balanced and clear steps, which is very important. This process must be continued.

Our general approach is that the best traditions of the service should be strengthened and new breath, new approaches should be brought. Such challenges are emerging that, for example, 20 years ago either did not exist or were not on our agenda. For example, cyber security, which is becoming a more important and urgent issue every day and will obviously be one of the most important issues for ensuring the security of every state, government agencies, and management system in the foreseeable future. In this regard, of course, we need to take very concrete and visible steps.

Dear attendees,

I want to thank you all again for the work you have done. I highly appreciate the work of the service and, of course, everyone understands that the nature of the NSS is very complex and serving in the NSS is not easy. It is normal that serving in NSS is not easy, because higher standards should apply here. And I think that it is our common desire, and you are also among the first to be interested in the reputation of the service, the reputation of the profession, so that all the standards in the NSS are increasingly raised in terms of courtesy, professionalism, etc.

It is also very important that social security standards are also raised. I am glad that we are going this way, and I note that the opportunity to significantly increase salaries proportionally has been created, in a number of cases, up to doubling. I hope that this system will be implemented and fully embraced by the service with the understanding that this should not be a one-time operation.

In general, in all the areas where we have introduced the certification mechanism, our perception is that the same process should take place; upskilling or verification of the skills and salary increases. In many cases, we witness situations where there are no significant changes in salaries in the public service for a decade, which obviously has a negative impact on people's living standards, because inflation will always be there in any case.

Dear Director of the National Security Service,
Dear attendees,

I thank you for your service, your determination to continuously improve the quality of work, and I wish you success in terms of further work and service progress," Prime Minister Pashinyan concluded his speech.

On the occasion of the Day of the National Security Service Employees, Nikol Pashinyan awarded a group of employees of the National Security Service with a commemorative medal of the Prime Minister for their contribution to strengthening the security, law and order and legitimacy of the motherland.

The Prime Minister noted that he submitted a petition to the President of the Republic about awarding a group of NSS employees with the "Combat Service" medal.

Nikol Pashinyan added that by the decree of the President of the Republic, National Security Service Director, Major General Armen Abazyan was awarded the military rank of Lieutenant General, and National Security Service Deputy Director Andranik Simonyan was awarded the military rank of Major General.