During the military parade organized on the occasion of Republic Day, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered a speech summarizing the results achieved since 2022 in the areas of army reforms, arms procurement, and the provision of social guarantees for servicemen.
“Today we present to you the new army of the Republic of Armenia - with new weaponry, new uniforms, and a new ideology. The core of that ideology is the following: the army’s sole mission is the defense of the internationally recognized sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and our army must not be used outside the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia, except in peacekeeping missions carried out on the basis of international agreements.”
Referring to the arms procurement process, the Prime Minister recalled that before 2022, international arms and military equipment markets were largely closed or difficult to access for Armenia, as international partners refused to supply weapons out of concern that they could be used outside internationally recognized territories.
“Only after the agreement reached in Prague on October 6, 2022, when Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized each other’s territorial integrity on the basis of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, did the international arms market open for Armenia. Around seven countries’ weaponry and military equipment will pass through the formation of today’s parade-report.
One of the key pillars of the parade-report is the weaponry and military equipment produced in Armenia, which today are taking their first yet confident steps toward securing stable positions in the international market,” Pashinyan emphasized, adding that since 2022 the government has invested around 170 billion drams in the local military-industrial complex.
