VIDEO: Nikol Pashinyan Sends Message

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has sent a message on the occasion of the Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia.

“Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia. September 21 is the Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia, and today we celebrate the 33rd anniversary of our independence. On this day in 1991, an independence referendum was held in Armenia, during which citizens went to polling stations to answer the question written on the ballot: ‘Do you agree that the Republic of Armenia should be an independent, democratic state outside of the USSR?’

At that time, 95 percent of eligible voters responded ‘Yes’ to the question, and the Republic of Armenia became an independent state. Since that day, our country has gone through numerous trials—wars, thousands of casualties, blockades, economic and political crises, emigration—which have made us understand more profoundly that the question posed in the 1991 referendum needs to be answered every single day, and we must respond to this question not only by marking a ballot at polling stations but also through our behavior, morality, and actions.

The core purpose of the Government of the Republic of Armenia is to respond ‘Yes’ every day to the question posed in the 1991 referendum, and I must note with satisfaction that the level of our country’s independence is growing daily due to democracy, balancing, and a balanced foreign policy. Since the People’s non-violent Velvet Revolution of 2018, our guiding principle in all decisions has been and continues to be independence, statehood, democracy, and the concretization and materialization of these concepts based on international norms.

In this process, we have made mistakes and faced failures, but having reached the brink of losing independence in 2020, we have gained a real opportunity to put the theoretical thesis of our state's permanence into practice with the strategy of Real Armenia.

Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, every day is an Independence referendum. Each of us makes our choice every day. Every day, the question posed in the referendum is answered by those who pay legally prescribed taxes (Yes) and those who hide taxes (No), anyone acting honestly (Yes) and any official accepting bribes (No), every worker (Yes) and any individual who disregards their work (No), anyone respecting the law (Yes) and anyone who considers law violations as a means of self-assertion (No).

I bow before those who have said ‘Yes’ and continue to say ‘Yes’ in the Independence referendum; I love and am proud of them. And I apologize for all the evident and possible mistakes we have made, and let’s be honest, will continue to make, because humans are fallible.

It is crucial not to lose sight of the key objective for a single minute or second: Independence, statehood, the Republic of Armenia, as a platform and mechanism for ensuring the safety, freedom, and welfare of its citizens in its internationally recognized territory of 29,743 square kilometers.

Glory to the martyrs, and long live the Republic of Armenia. And long live our children, who will live in a Free and Happy Armenia. Congratulations to all on the occasion of the Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia,” he wrote.

Earlier, Pashinyan had published a video and wrote: ‘September 21. Why and what makes today the Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia.’