International legitimacy is the primary tool for Armenia’s external security,

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has presented the provisions on external security included in the pre-election program of the ruling Civil Contract party.

The Prime Minister said that the external security component is a very important part of the party’s program.

“I would like to draw special attention to this section, because here we have clarified what we mean when we say that if the army is the primary factor in ensuring external security, it effectively means that external security does not exist. We must place additional security factors before the army in order to consider that we have real security. The question now is the following: what are those factors that should ensure Armenia’s external security before the army?” Pashinyan said in a video message, presenting the party’s election program.

He elaborated that, in the view of the ruling party, the first such factor is international legitimacy, which is the primary tool for ensuring Armenia’s external security.

“International legitimacy is the primary instrument for ensuring the external security of the Republic of Armenia. The international community recognizes Armenia’s territorial integrity within the borders of the Armenian SSR of the Soviet Union.

This principle also underpins the established peace framework: Armenia and Azerbaijan have recognized each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, according to which the Soviet republics that joined it became independent states within their administrative borders.

Having undisputed—meaning internationally lawful—territory, as well as legitimate positions and expectations in foreign relations, is a primary tool for ensuring external security. While it is not an absolute guarantee, it remains an important cornerstone,” Pashinyan said.

He recalled a recent discussion in parliament, when one of the opposition representatives said that peace is possible when the causes of war are resolved. Pashinyan stressed that this is a very accurate wording, noting that it is precisely why the authorities have said that the Karabakh movement should be abandoned, as the cause of the war and conflict lies in the differing interpretations surrounding Karabakh.

“But when we mutually recognize each other’s territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders, the cause of war disappears—the fundamental cause of war disappears—and it is on this basis that it becomes possible to establish peace,” the Prime Minister of Armenia emphasized.

He again warned that tycoon Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia party, former President Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia Alliance, and business magnate Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia party, whom he described as a “tripartite war party,” seek to restore the Karabakh movement and spark war.

“Essentially, from 1991 to 2024, we have never had peace. There has always been war, and the proof of that is that every year there were casualties at the border. Peace is when there are no deaths or injuries at the border. What we have had is war of varying intensity. If people are being killed at the border, that is war—the level of intensity is a different matter.

We have had war because there was the Karabakh conflict, there was the Karabakh movement. The Karabakh movement has been incompatible with peace and security, and we acknowledged this and said: what is our choice? And we made a choice in favor of peace and security. And today we have security, we have peace.

The other day I read that representatives of the ‘war party’ are presenting maps and making statements… I should note that the Karabakh conflict also began with seemingly innocent humanitarian issues. Now they speak about the right of return to Karabakh. Azerbaijan will counter this with the issues you are familiar with, and at that point it will start to escalate and turn into conflict. We say that these issues must be closed bilaterally. This is a realistic and legitimate approach from the perspective of international law, and it is the approach that guarantees peace.

Because if we now say that our dear compatriots from Karabakh must return to Karabakh, they will say that their refugees must also return. When we say, wait a minute, the Karabakh case is different, they say, wait a minute, our case is different too. I want to say this directly to you. When does peace become real? When we propose—and are proposing—a strategic deal to Azerbaijan.

What is that strategic deal? Have we recognized each other’s territorial integrity on the basis of the Alma-Ata Declaration, meaning within the borders of the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijani SSR? Then we recognize it clearly, carry out delimitation, and leave each other in peace. We stop digging into who lived where and when.

Because that is what peace is.

We must acknowledge that we have our own truth, but everyone has their own truth, and it is not the case that when we present our truth in international forums, the international community applauds us. In all countries there have been both pro-Azerbaijani and pro-Armenian circles. The pro-Armenian ones came to Armenia, stood in front of cameras, and said: what you are saying is true—what about historical justice, what about Woodrow Wilson’s Arbitral Award, what about the Treaty of Sèvres—we are with you, we stand by you. There have been various circles—official and semi-official.

But no one showed us that another group from the same country had gone to Azerbaijan a month earlier or later and said the same thing to them. And what was the result? The result was the escalation of the conflict, from which others mainly benefited, while we suffered and incurred losses,” Pashinyan said.

He denied accusations of having made concessions.

The Prime Minister said that peace is the point of balance around which agreements can be reached, and that such an agreement has been achieved.

“They keep telling us that we have made concessions. But what have we conceded, if we proceed from the logic of our international legitimacy? We have not conceded anything that, under international law, belongs to us. Even today, we speak about approximately 200 square kilometers of Armenia’s occupied territories, but through a legally binding document we have recorded that this issue will be resolved within the framework of delimitation. And it will be resolved within that framework because, from the perspective of international law, it is a legitimate issue.

International legitimacy is not an absolute guarantee, because the world is very turbulent right now, but it is nevertheless an important cornerstone. We must not set illegitimate goals for ourselves and then tell our 18-year-old soldiers to go and resolve them. Our security must be based on legitimacy,” Pashinyan said.

The Civil Contract party’s pre-election program also states that interconnectedness and connectivity with the outside world is the next key tool for ensuring external security. This factor allows a country to become such an important part of global supply chains and economic circulation that its security and stability become important for many other countries, including its neighbors; conversely, its instability is perceived as a threat by the region and the international community.

“The ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project and the resulting TRIPP initiative, through which goods will flow across the territory of the Republic of Armenia from east to west and from north to south, create such opportunities for our country, and we rely—and will continue to rely—on this strategic vision,” the party’s program states.

The next factor, according to the ruling party, is long-term predictability.

“In the short-, medium-, and long-term perspective, other countries should increasingly perceive the Republic of Armenia less and less as a threat, and commitment to the peace agenda should become a long-term and strategic perception of the Republic of Armenia for other states.

To achieve this, not only declared policies are essential, but also the content and discourse in the socio-psychological, educational-cultural, and public-political spheres. A clear demarcation between history and the future, and a practical linking of present realities not so much with the past as with the future, are vital for ensuring the sustainability of the Republic of Armenia. The ‘Future is Today’ formula also serves this purpose,” the party program states.

The program of the Civil Contract party also states that the army is a reserve instrument for ensuring external security, to be used only in cases where the aforementioned diplomatic tools aimed at ensuring external security have not been effective.

“The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia should not be used outside the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia (except for participation in international peacekeeping missions based on international treaties) and should serve exclusively the purpose of defending the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia.

In recent years, tremendous efforts and resources have been invested in strengthening the defense capability of the Armenian Armed Forces. Modern weapons and military equipment have been acquired, including domestically produced systems. Armenia’s military-industrial complex has developed significantly, large-scale and innovative fortification works have been carried out, and dozens of fortified areas have been established.

To increase the attractiveness of military service, major (publicly known) reforms have been implemented in the areas of remuneration and professionalism of contract servicemen, as well as in the duration and structure of compulsory military service.

The parliamentary majority formed by the Civil Contract party and the Government will continue reforms of the Armed Forces in accordance with the concept of transformation of the Armenian Armed Forces. A comprehensive defense and security system (CDSS) will be gradually introduced,” the program states.