On the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Ministry of Defense and participated in the solemn session.

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

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 out of the world, and that, unfortunately, is what has happened to us several times throughout our history, and we have decided to change this practice.”

The Prime Minister considered the most important achievement of the army today to be that there is the understanding of constantly expanding the horizons, the need for which is recognized. In this context, the Prime Minister also emphasized the need to develop education in the sector, towards 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. And this is a substantive change that has been discussed long and in detail, which I consider very important. We are creating a completely new, essentially new territorial defense system from scratch. And this is also very significant," said Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister also touched upon the “Defender of the Fatherland” program and noted that it is a good opportunity for the professional orientation of young people towards 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 perception and consciousness of those working in the field: What are we doing, why are we doing it. “This is the most important thing, because you all know that systemic resistance is the most cruel thing, which is sometimes impossible to overcome. But everything that is happening, I want to emphasize, is the result of our, everyone’s, joint efforts. I want us to appreciate this, it is very important and has a very high value.”

Nikol Pashinyan also touched upon other reforms being implemented in the sector: changing uniforms, acquiring new weapons, digitalization, and ensuring promotion based on a person's work and the quality of service. The Prime Minister emphasized that work in these areas must continue.

Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the need to add new security buffers to the army in order to ensure the country's security, so that the army does not become the first mechanism for ensuring security: "We cannot put all the burden of security on the army. And we have achieved this today in a very difficult way. What priorities have we set for the army? The first priority is legitimacy. This is a very important circumstance, international legitimacy. When the state and the army rely on international legitimacy for their work, it is a different situation, when the army is not based on international legitimacy, it is a completely different situation," the Prime Minister emphasized.

According to the Prime Minister, the next priority is interdependence, which should ensure external security. "An environment of relations with the outside world that the country becomes such an important part of the economic turnover of the global supply chain, the security and stability of which becomes important for many others, including neighboring countries and superpowers. And on the contrary, its instability should be perceived as a threat by the region and the international community. The "Crossroads of Peace" project and the TRRIP project arising from it, as a result of the implementation of which goods will flow through the territory of the Republic of Armenia from east to west, from north to south, create such an opportunity for our country, and we rely and will rely on this strategic perception," said Nikol Pashinyan, adding that this is 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 for this and about this: “We say that the Republic of Armenia is a territory of 29,743 square kilometers, and this territory is a state whose task is to ensure the security and well-being of its citizens in its internationally recognized territory.”

And the most important guarantee of security, according to the Prime Minister, is peace. “There is no more reliable guarantee than peace. And today we are building peace with difficult, hard decisions. The path to peace will not be easy, but we must continue on that path. And here too, the very principled position of the army and the Armed Forces is important, that it is focused on its task. This is a very important thing, because regardless of peace, regardless of what kind, how reliable the peace will be, we must have a strong and capable army, because any country that does not have a strong and capable army is a temptation for everyone. And therefore, the primary agenda of the Republic of Armenia should always include the existence of a strong and capable army, the continuous development of the army, within the framework and based on the principles that I mentioned."

Summing up his speech, Nikol Pashinyan once again congratulated the Armed Forces on their 34th anniversary and thanked everyone for the tremendous work they have done: “I want to express my satisfaction with the situation we have today in the Army of the Republic of Armenia, not because we have reached the point we wanted, but because we are definitely and unequivocally on the right path. In recent years, in many directions, it must be said frankly, the impossible has simply been done, the impossible has become a reality, and this is an extremely important achievement.”

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