Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, along with the top leadership of the Republic, attended the military parade dedicated to the Republic Day.

After the military parade held in Republic Square, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a speech,

''Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,
Honorable President of the National Assembly,
Honorable Chairman of the Constitutional Court,
Distinguished representatives of the legislative, executive, judicial, local self-government bodies,
Distinguished representatives of the diplomatic corps,
Gentlemen generals, officers, servicemen,
Dear citizens, dear people,

We celebrate this Republic Day of 2026 in completely new historical conditions. After almost 35 years of conflict, peace has been established between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Peace is what the First Republic of Armenia did not have enough to maintain and develop its independence, and the absence of peace became the key reason why the three countries of the South Caucasus, having declared independence together in 1918, lost that independence one after another in 1920.

Historical memories of the fate of the First Republic of Armenia have played an important role in peace-building processes, and today we are overcoming the complex of the temporality of the state, left over from the times of the First Republic, and adopting an agenda of the permanence of the state, guided by the logic that the Republic of Armenia must exist forever.

This means that in all situations we must remain focused on the interests of the state, when the state and its interests, its security, freedom and well-being become the key starting point for actions and decisions, and the state, in turn, becomes an instrument for the security, freedom and well-being of its own citizens.

This is the concept of the rise of the state that guides us, and we are following this path.

The Republic of Armenia is following this path, and the established peace, its further institutionalization, the development and strengthening of the legal foundations of the state, turning Armenia from a dead end of conflict into a crossroads of peace, including through the implementation of the TRIPP project, as well as ensuring the security, freedom and well-being of citizens are our strategic priorities.

Education, which we have declared a strategy of strategies, is of great importance for the implementation of these goals. And the deepening of our knowledge about the state comes to say that in peacetime, the army is the most important state institution, and today the army of the Republic of Armenia is a factor of peace, not war, because a country that does not have a capable and strong army can be a temptation for aggression.

We cannot put ourselves in such a situation, and today, on the occasion of the Republic Day of 2026, it is an honor for us to present to the people of the Republic of Armenia the results that we have achieved since 2022.

Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,
Honorable President of the National Assembly,
Honorable President of the Constitutional Court,
Distinguished representatives of the legislative, executive, judicial, and local self-government bodies,
Foreign diplomats accredited to Armenia,
Dear citizens,
Dear people,

Today we present to you the new army of the Republic of Armenia, with new weapons, new uniforms, and a new ideology. The core of this ideology is the following: the only task of the army is the defense of the internationally recognized sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and our army should not be used outside the internationally recognized territory of Armenia, with the exception of peacekeeping missions carried out on the basis of international treaties.

This approach has made it possible for the Republic of Armenia to have what you will see today. Before 2022, international markets for arms and military equipment were mostly closed or difficult to access for the Republic of Armenia, because international partners refused to supply the Republic of Armenia with weapons on the grounds that they were convinced that Armenia would use these weapons outside its internationally recognized territories.

And only after the agreements reached in Prague on October 6, 2022, when Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized each other’s territorial integrity based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, only after this agreement did the international arms market open up for Armenia.

Today’s military parade-report will feature weapons and military equipment produced by about 7 countries, and this geography of military-technical cooperation is the result of policies based on the ideology of the Real Armenia.

One of the important axes of the military parade-report is the armament and military equipment produced in the Republic of Armenia, which is today taking the first but confident steps to occupy stable positions in the international market.

Since 2022, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has invested about 170 billion drams in the military-industrial complex, and today we have results that we can be proud of.

A significant factor in increasing the defense capability of the Republic of Armenia is also several dozen fortified regions, which are fortresses along the state border of the Republic of Armenia and masterpieces of engineering meeting the requirements of the 21st century.

Today, it is also a source of pride that the military parade is being attended by servicemen who have proven their high combat efficiency through voluntary certefication, as well as participants of the "Defender of the Fatherland" program, who are important participants in the process of transitioning from a mandatory military service to a professional army.

Dear people,

The transformation of the army of the Republic of Armenia is proceeding at a rapid pace, for which the system of social guarantees for servicemen is of essential importance.

Today, there are ordinary servicemen in Armenia who receive a salary of 700 thousand drams, and this process of increasing salaries through voluntary certefication rounds will be continuous.

Servicemen of the "Defender of the Fatherland" program will also receive an additional five million drams as an honorarium after completing their five-year contract period.

Cadets of the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy, who currently receive a scholarship of up to 175 thousand drams during their studies, will receive certificates from the Government for the purchase of apartments calculated at Yerevan prices after successfully graduating from the military educational institution and receiving an officer’s appointment, and thus the housing problem of our officer corps, which has been largely unresolved since the early 2000s, will receive a radical solution.

The Government recently adopted a decision to resolve in the next 4 years the housing problem of about 2,850 families who have been on the housing waiting list of the Ministry of Defense since the early 2000s. The state program of mortgage loan support for the purchase of apartments for persons in military service is underway, and it will be further expanded in the near future.

Dear people, statesmen,

Today's military parade is a report to the citizens on what the Republic of Armenia and the Government have done in recent years to increase the defense capability of the Republic of Armenia. But this report is also addressed to our martyrs, at the cost of whose sacrifices, at the cost of whose lives, the Republic of Armenia is today a state more than ever, more independent than ever, more sovereign than ever, more secure than ever.

Let us honor the memory of all our martyrs with a minute of silence, but also with artillery volleys.

Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia, statesmen,
Citizens of the Republic of Armenia, dear people,

The Republic of Armenia has learned the lessons of history, the Republic of Armenia has learned the lessons of the history of the army, and today you see, you will see the tangible result of all this, the new army of the Republic of Armenia, with new weapons and equipment, new uniforms, new ideology, new emblem, new psychology and new combat capability.

I express my gratitude to all officials, servicemen, private sector companies, and all our international partners who have contributed to the formation of our new army.

I also express my gratitude to all citizens who work in Armenia, create results, pay taxes as prescribed by law, demand and receive a cash register receipt, and all people whose taxes allow the Republic of Armenia to afford a new, modern, capable, and strong army.

Dear people,
Dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

I congratulate all of us on the occasion of Republic Day.

The Republic of Armenia must exist forever.

Glory to the martyrs and long live the Republic of Armenia''.

Next, the ceremonial parade of military units took place: new weapons and military equipment acquired by Armenia in recent years, as well as samples of Armenian-made military equipment were displayed. The Armed Forces aviation conducted flights.