Concept of combat-ready army must be replaced by one prepared for  defense

ArmInfo.  The concept of a combat-ready army must be replaced by one prepared for defense, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated on October 27 at budget hearings in parliament.

"The Army of the Republic of Armenia must be prepared for defense.  That is, prepared to defend the territorial integrity, sovereignty of  the Republic of Armenia, and the security of the country's citizens,"  he said.

As a reminder, on October 21, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  announced in a video address that mandatory military service in  Armenia would be reduced starting January 1, 2026. "Today I had a  discussion with the Minister of Defense, and before that with my  parliamentary colleagues, and we decided that the law will come into  force earlier - on January 1, 2026. Starting with the winter  conscription of 2026, the length of service will be one and a half  years instead of two," he stated. The Armenian Ministry of Defense  proposed reducing the length of military service in September. The  plan is to offset the reduction in the number of conscripts by  increasing contract service.

Previously, experts and political opponents of Pashinyan stated that  the decision was not based on a desire to achieve positive changes in  the army, but rather a well-thought-out pre-election move by the  ruling party.  Furthermore, Prime Minister Pashinyan is thus  attempting to further advance his false agenda of peace with  Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, reducing the length of military service by six  months means a 25% reduction in the number of conscripts, and the  increase in contract service announced by the Ministry of Defense is  not equivalent to the number being cut. Most importantly, various  government officials acknowledged prior to this change that there was  a serious problem with staffing the Armed Forces. And under these  circumstances, they noted, they were resorting to an inappropriate  reduction in the army.