Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted signs of stagnation in the anti-corruption fight. Expressing deep dissatisfaction with the current results, the head of the government called for more decisive and systematic reforms, including at the level of local self-government.

During the briefing following the government session on March 26, Pashinyan emphasized that despite the significant progress recorded by international reports since 2018, alarming signs of stagnation have recently been observed. According to him, these indicators first of all testify to the need to continue the process of reforms. As an example of a systemic approach, the prime minister cited the introduction of a performance-based remuneration system, which, according to him, is a step leading to more decisive changes.

The head of the executive also pointed out the urgent need to root the “zero corruption” policy at the local government level. Pashinyan noted that although this issue was raised by him earlier, it remains unresolved until now. Admitting his disappointment with the current indicators, the Prime Minister added that while analyzing the causes of the created situation, he comes to the conclusion that sometimes the necessary political determination is not enough to advance the reforms. He concluded his speech with a call to demonstrate maximum consistency and uncompromising attitude in this matter.

The Prime Minister’s statements are directly consistent with the current assessments of international institutions. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published annually by Transparency International, after a noticeable increase in the first years following the 2018 change of government, Armenia’s indicators have really stagnated in the last few years, ranging from 46-47 points out of a possible 100. International experts attribute this stop to the weak practical implementation of already adopted anti-corruption strategies, and also emphasize the need to further strengthen the real independence and effectiveness of the judicial system and law enforcement agencies.

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Sargis Khandanyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the RA National Assembly, was appointed by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office as the head of the international observation mission for the parliamentary elections to be held in Hungary. As a special coordinator and head of the mission, Sargis Khandanyan will coordinate the work of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, PACE and OSCE/ODIHR short-term observation missions.

During his working visit to the capital of Hungary on March 24-26, Sargis Khandanyan had meetings with state institutions involved in the electoral process in Hungary, political parties participating in the elections, representatives of the Hungarian Parliament and Government, civil society and media representatives, as well as the OSCE/ODIHR team carrying out a long-term observation mission.

During the meetings, Sargis Khandanyan got acquainted with the preparations for the elections and the course of the campaign.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary will take place on April 12.

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The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has expressed readiness to hold double referendums if the citizens do not approve the draft of the new Constitution at the first attempt. The main goal of the reform is to abandon the reference to the Declaration of Independence and the concept of “historical justice”, which, according to the head of government, is vital for the preservation of statehood in the face of current geopolitical challenges.

During the government briefing held on March 26, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the ruling power will manage to explain and convince the public of the need for these changes. Pashinyan emphasized that the authorities are ready for an open and honest dialogue with the people, acting as their legitimate representatives. He considered the need to remove the reference to the Declaration of Independence of Armenia from the preamble as the main argument for the adoption of the new Basic Law.

According to the politician, the orientation towards the restoration of “historical justice”, which includes strategies regarding Western Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, is equivalent to formulating the problem of the destruction of the Republic of Armenia. The head of the executive called to strive for a “just reality”, noting that running after historical justice only creates new injustices and conflicts. He also added that only the elected Prime Minister of RA has the exclusive right to speak on behalf of the people.

The process of preparing the document has already entered the practical stage. as early as March 16, officials announced that the draft text of the new Constitution was completely ready and forwarded to the ruling “Civil Pact” party for consideration. Discussions on constitutional reforms have been going on in Armenia since 2018, but now they have received a completely new context in the light of foreign political pressures.

Official Baku claims that the current Constitution of Armenia contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan, as it refers to the Declaration of Independence of 1990, which in turn mentions the decision on the reunification of the Armenian SSR and the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region. The Azerbaijani side regularly emphasizes that the amendment of the Armenian Basic Law is the main condition for signing the bilateral peace treaty.

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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan categorically denied the accusations that he alone and without taking into account the opinion of the people of Nagorno Karabakh will decide the fate of the region. The head of the government emphasized that all key decisions were taken exclusively after detailed consultations with Karabakh representatives. He also commented on the scandalous video with the participation of his former party member and answered questions about the current national security strategy.

In the briefing following the government session on March 26, the journalists touched on a number of acute topics. Answering the question of how he could make fatal decisions regarding Karabakh without representing the interests of its people, Pashinyan stated: “Basically, all the decisions I made before were consulted with the representatives of Karabakh. There was no such decision that I made without consulting the representatives of Karabakh.” At the same time, the prime minister distanced himself from the recent decisions of the authorities of the unrecognized republic, stating that he learned about them later and emphasizing the absence of Armenia’s role in those processes.

Speaking about the Prague agreements of 2022, Pashinyan described as absurd the situation when Armenia had to recognize its territorial integrity. According to him, this decision has become the most important step on the way to overcome the “greatest conspiracy against the statehood of Armenia”.

The Prime Minister also commented on the publication of a video recording of the meeting of the “Civil Contract” party’s board in pro-government media, where he communicates in a harsh style with Hakob Aslanyan, a former member of the team. The journalists asked if this is not a message to the teammates that there are kompromats and the government is ready to use them. Pashinyan denied these assumptions, calling the publication a manifestation of intra-party democracy. “Democracy is for this purpose, to show the stupidity among them,” he said, emphasizing the transparency and competitive nature of the processes within the ruling power.

At the end of the briefing Nikol Pashinyan admitted that the current national security strategy of Armenia has largely lost its relevance. He informed that currently the country does not actually have an effective strategy, but the government is already working on the creation of a document that meets the new, modern challenges.

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Do not transfer your money to other accounts through fake phone calls made on behalf of law enforcement agencies. This is being urged by the Cyber ​​Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“Recently, cases of fraud have become frequent, when unknown persons call or send messages (via WhatsApp, Viber and other platforms) pretending to be employees of the National Security Service, the Central Bank or various banks. Under various pretexts, they try to convince you to withdraw money from your bank accounts and transfer them to the accounts provided by them, often also in the form of crypto-assets.

Do not trust such calls or messages. If you receive such a call, immediately stop the conversation and contact the police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Remember, no government agency or bank ever requires you to transfer your money to other accounts by phone. Vigilance is your best defense,” the message reads.

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On May 28, the Republic Day, the Armenian government will organize a public exhibition of recently acquired military equipment in the capital’s main square. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the upcoming event not as a traditional military parade, but a unique public report to the citizens, while emphasizing the immutability of the country’s peace agenda.

In a briefing with journalists after the government meeting on March 26, the head of the executive confirmed that the final decision on the exhibition has already been made. Aware of the diplomatic subtlety of similar military reviews, Pashinyan emphasized that the Armenian leadership is actively engaged in explanatory work with international and regional partners. The main purpose of these contacts is to exclude any misunderstanding and not to allow the event to be interpreted as a rejection of the peace process by Yerevan.

The decision to hold a mass demonstration in the Republic Square replaces the initiative put forward earlier, which planned to pre-queue citizens to see the new arsenal. The prime minister explained that the unprecedented demand and the huge number of applications made the original plan unfeasible from a logistical point of view, and also created risks of spreading misinformation about the country’s modern defense capabilities. Announcing the scale of the upcoming event, Pashinyan expressed confidence that the display of modernized weapons will be a truly spectacular sight. For residents of Armenia.

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Arrests took place in Vanadzor community hall.  Anti-corruption committee reported the news.

From there, it was reported that 10 people were arrested within the framework of the proceedings initiated by the RA Anti-corruption Committee regarding cases of bribery, giving, group abuse of official powers and fraud, 7 of whom are former and current officials of the Vanadzor municipality. In the interests of the preliminary investigation, we cannot reveal any other details, NEWS.am reports.

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Dear compatriots, being at the beginning of the establishment of the “Prosperous Armenia” party, coordinating the work of the party’s Shirak regional and Gyumri city councils for many years, being elected as a member of the National Assembly several times as a member of the “Prosperous Armenia” party, I express my unconditional support for the “Offer to Armenia” program initiated by Gagik Tsarukyan, because I am convinced that only with unity, public solidarity and joint work can the problems facing our country be solved.

As Gyumri M. Former rector of Nalbandyan State Pedagogical Institute, I have seen how Gagik Tsarukyan shows a unique attitude to student youth, sports world and all fields (education, science, art, spiritual life). The problems of the city of Gyumri were also not left out of Mr. Tsarukyan’s attention, some of which were solved with his direct patronage and support.

I call on all my former students of different generations and today’s student youth to participate in the discussion and strengthening of this program, because this is a unique platform to make everyone’s voice heard.

We have no right to be indifferent to the fate of our country.

Vardevan Grigoryan
Honored pedagogue of RA,
doctor of pedagogical sciences, professor

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The delegation led by Hamlet Sahakyan, Deputy Chairman of the State Revenue Committee, participated in the 53rd session of the United Board of Customs Services of the Eurasian Economic Union member states in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Delegations of the customs services of EAEU member states, led by their heads, took part in the meeting. 

During the session, 25 decisions were discussed and signed, which refer to various areas of customs affairs. In particular, the decisions related to making changes in the procedure for filling out the transit declaration, the practice of control of temporarily imported vehicles for personal use, the implementation of changes in Article 330 of the EAEU Customs Code, as well as problematic issues of interaction between the customs services of the EAEU member states.

Decisions were adopted regarding the application of the customs value declaration, the change of the data included in the declarations of goods after the omission of goods, as well as the classification of some goods in accordance with the unified product nomenclature of the external economic activity of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Decisions were also discussed and signed regarding the unified value indicators of risks, as well as the results of monitoring the customs declaration of goods implemented using them.

The next, 54th meeting of the joint collegium of the customs services of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union will be held in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the 2nd quarter of 2026.

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As a result of the investigative activities conducted during the preliminary investigation of the criminal proceedings initiated in the Main Department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, as well as the operative-investigative measures implemented jointly with the NSS employees, the circumstances of the criminal proceedings initiated in connection with the cases of smuggling 20 kg of various types of narcotic drugs and later selling them to other persons in RA have been revealed, reports the Investigative Committee.

During the preliminary investigation, it was established that A.M., a resident of Yerevan, and Nakich H.D., a resident of Vanadzor, with a prior agreement, with the intention of illegally acquiring large quantities of narcotics by smuggling, on February 2, 2026, took the plastic packages containing narcotics transported to RA, placed them in the interior of the car, transported them to a hotel in Ararat Marz, and hid them. However, the latter were arrested by NSS officers.
A public criminal prosecution was initiated against A.M. and H.D. in accordance with Article 393, Part 3, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code (especially large amounts of narcotics, psychotropic (psychoactive) substances, their preparations or their equivalent substances (analogues) or their derivatives for the purpose of illegal trafficking or their illegal realization) and Article 46-399, Part 3 under item 2 (supporting smuggling of narcotic drugs, psychotropic (psychoactive) substances, their preparations, their equivalent substances (analogue) or their derivatives or their precursors, in particular in large quantities).

Arrest was applied to them as a preventive measure. The criminal proceedings were sent to the supervising prosecutor with an indictment.

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