21:38,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 31, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian issued a congratulatory message on New Year. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, the message runs as follows,
“Dear compatriots in Armenia, Artsakh, and in the Diaspora,
The year of 2021 is coming to its close. For our people, Armenia and Artsakh, it was a most difficult year, with a hard period of the aftermath of the war and pandemic.
My deepest respect to the eternal memory of our sons who sacrificed their lives for the Homeland.
I share that deep sorrow with you. I offer my condolences to the families and relatives of many of our compatriots who fell victim to the pandemic.
I wish good health to all the wounded and sick.
I will continue my international efforts for the quick return of all our captive compatriots and finding the missing.
Dear compatriots,
Thirty years ago these days, we celebrated the New Year for the first time as citizens of the independent Republic of Armenia. Achievements and victories and, unfortunately, losses mark these thirty years.
Today, our country is facing most serious ordeals and challenges once again. We need will to overcome those ordeals. We must have a clear vision and a plan, be honest and responsible. It is necessary to have a deep awareness of national identity and statehood. Identity is the passport of the state, and the state is the guarantor of national identity.
We must become a competitive country using our great global potential. Therefore, it is necessary to open the doors of the Homeland for all our compatriots. And for this, you must first change the Constitution, so that our compatriots in the Diaspora, and all our people could freely be part of our country and serve their Homeland.
The amendment of the Constitution will also contribute to a more effective governance of the state, to balancing state structures, to more flexible and interconnected, more understandable and responsible activities.
It’s high time to realize that our strongest weapon is ourselves, our army, our work and our mind. It’s time to become a state, whom they believe and trust, which is a reliable bulwark for all its citizens, around which we all unite. I truly believe that together we can build our future.
Believe in your strength, respect our country, respect every compatriot. And the world will respect us more: as a people and as a state.
Dear compatriots,
New Year is a holiday of hope, faith, and expectations. I am confident that we can overcome today’s challenges. I am confident that we can become a stable and peaceful, prosperous and dignified country with strong, and invulnerable borders. I believe that together we can build a strong Armenia. I see that way. For our country, and for our people, for every one of you, and for your families, let 2022 be a year of health, peace, and success, a year of abundance and progress. Let warmth and solidarity, attention, care and Love to each other reign in all our families!
Happy New Year!”.