Armenia will gradually transition to a professional army, the structure of conscription and military service will change significantly, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the National Assembly today.
“It is known that given the certain nuances of the socio-economic life of Armenia, we recruit people on a contract basis with a different occupation and profession, who serve in the army for some time and engage in their job for the rest of the month. By professional army, we mean a soldier 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 30, 31, 28 or 29 days a month, 12 months a year. And actually in the strategic perspective we don’t see border protection as soldier’s job. The protection of the border should be reserved to the border troops, and the soldier should be at the permanent location during his working hours, continuously increase his combat readiness, and this process should be continuous,” the Prime Minister said.
“The idea of border guards assuming border protection will be realized in the context of opening a peaceful era, and this process will take place gradually because the presence of border guards at the border is a symbol of peace,” the prime Minister said, adding that the professional army will only be deployed in case of an attack on the nation.
“In all other cases the army continues being stationed at the places of permanent deployment, at training facilities and bases.,” Pashinyan stated.
