“Army construction is a continual process similar to a statehood construction. People considering they have done everything for a given phase should lay a ground for the continuation of that path due to new ideas. April War had painful, tragic consequences from the perspective of the loss of our fellow Armenians. However, no other way of defending the country has been invented by any army, not even the world’s strongest army yet,” speaking about April War conclusions, explained the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, Vigen Sargsyan. He said that army service is always connected with danger, sacrifice and the idea of defending the country even at the cost of one’s own life.
According to the Minister, every time he visits the military cemetery, he has a feeling of pain and irreversible loss, at the same time he becomes proud of the path passed by the people who keep our country safe and our borders – stable: “It is the duty of all of us, of course, to create equal conditions and environment for the defense to be more effective.”
Asked what has changed throughout these 2 years after April War, Vigen Sargsyan replied: “The most important thing taken place throughout these 2 years, in my opinion, even though I do not completely associate it with April War, is the evolution process. We, as a society, have become conscious that the defense of the country cannot be part-by-part or put on the shoulders of a part of the public or cut off from the lifestyle of the state completely. I think we have understood that the defense of the country is a lifestyle for the whole society, the whole country, the whole governmental system similarly. I think it is the axis of our future steps, of all projects we should bring to life in order to be ready for defending our country, our civilization as a nation-army, as well as protecting the huge heritage we possess as a nation coming from centuries. Our fight does not start from Karabakh or end with it. We cannot calculate our forces for defending a certain line along a certain border alone. We, as a society, should be ready for moving forward, developing, developing fast and at the same time doing much to defend that development. This is the advice. I do not think any Defense Minister should ever have the right to look at the eyes of our society through you saying everything is brilliant and we do not have any problem.”
Vigen Sargsyan assured that they have worked very consistently and will be working towards raising the combat readiness and the reputation of the army, keeping it at the level we had when winning in Karabakh War and signing the ceasefire.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
