Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Military Unit N of the Ministry of Defense, where he met with reservists bound to leave for the frontline.

Greeting the reservists, the Premier said. “Brethren, I would like to address you today and say that stability, peace has been reinstated in our homeland and that the homeland no longer needs your frontline service, and instead we need your civil service again. But that would not be true: we all are here today because our homeland, yes, needs the service of each of you.

Today we are in a situation where each of us must forget his previous civil status; we must get enlisted in the army to defend the homeland. But I want you to know exactly what you are going to do hundreds of miles away from your homes, hundreds of miles away from your children, hundreds of miles away from your relatives.

You are going to stand up for your children, your relatives, your wives, your parents, your doorstep, your home. Wherever you go, you may not see any familiar tree, or any familiar shrubs around, but in fact you will be standing in front of your children’s bedroom, in front of your own bedroom, in front of your children’s schools as you are going to defend the homeland. You are going to protect your bedrooms, your bedrooms’ doorsteps, your homes, and your own quarters. And we say we will not let the enemy trample on our land, our homeland, our borders.

In the spring of 2016, I was standing right where you are. In 2016, when I decided that I should go to defend the homeland as a volunteer, it happened just in a moment. When I woke up in the morning and saw my daughter who was less than a year old, asleep, I said that I should go and protect her peaceful sleep and die, if necessary.

We will not back down, we will not retreat, we will not give up, we will stand up for the defense of our homeland.

I wish we could state clearly and talk about the situation in the world. Many are asking today if we have any friends in the world. I want to assure you, yes, we have many friends in the world, but those friends cannot make a decision for us. But I want to say that those friends, our international friends will support our choice. If we decide to be losers, they will defend our choice to lose. If we decide to be winners, they will support our decision to win. And I am convinced, I know, that we, as a millennial people, have the will to make that most difficult decision today - the decision to be on the winning side!

I am asking you, I call on you, I demand that you leave with the victory in your heart, the victory in your mind, the victory in your soul.

Please remember that you are fighting for your children, that you are defending your homes, your bedrooms, your neighborhoods, your buildings, your identity, your dignity, your manhood and you will triumph.

The Armenian people must exist on the planet earth forever. We have survived owing to the victories forged by our ancestors throughout many centuries at the cost of their own deprivation. Today we are building not only our present day, but also our future a thousand years ahead. Please remember that it is up to you to complete that noble mission as you are going to leave your imprint in history.

I want to say again that the future of Armenia, the Armenian people depends on one person, and you are that one person, Should each of us approach our mission in this way, we will be invincible; we will win if each of us understands that Armenia’s future depends on one person, and each of us can be that one person.

I love you all, I am proud of all of you, I bow to all of you, I believe in you and in each of you, I believe that you are heroes, I believe that you are winners, I believe that you will defend the future of your children with dignity.

And therefore,
Long live freedom!
Long live the Republic of Armenia!
Long live the Republic of Artsakh!
Long live the Armenian Diaspora!
Long live the Armenian Army!
Long live the victory of the Armenian people!
May you be blessed with glorious service to the Homeland! Thank you all!”