To form a perception of the security of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the state, provisions related to the security of the state budget are primarily considered. The government’s vision for the 2026 military budget is caught in two parallel realities: on the one hand, a reduction in financial and human resources, on the other, empty promises and electoral expectations. This was stated by Tigran Abrahamyan, Secretary of the “I Have the Honor” faction, during his speech in the National Assembly.
The government has placed two principles at the core of ensuring the country’s security: not seeing threats at any cost and rejecting the obvious. The government’s concept inherently places people in a position of doom, whispering to citizens that the Armenian people have no chance of victory, and in that case, the size of the military budget and whether the army is being reduced are of little importance. An army that its own government has declared a fifth structure, with the mission of defending the homeland reduced to a purely salaried one, simply has no future. The physical presence of personnel, the availability of military equipment, weapons, and even high salaries, taken together, are incapable of ensuring victory if the process lacks fighting spirit, the necessary moral and psychological level, and social solidarity.
The culprit of this state of affairs is not the soldier, officer, or commander on combat duty 24 hours a day, 12 months a year, at any time of year, in difficult conditions, but the government, which sees its hope and guarantees in the promises of the people who committed genocide. Is it possible to put the army on the path of genuine reform, restore it to combat readiness, and bring the essential role of the soldier to the forefront in society? Of course it is. Is it possible to restore the army’s defensive capability, its combat effectiveness, or its effectiveness in carrying out combat missions, whatever you call it?
Of course it is. “Can this be achieved with this government or under its rule? Of course not. This government has exhausted and weakened the army, making it a constant target, thereby making it impossible to modernize, reform, and bring it into peak condition,” he said.