A regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

At today's Cabinet meeting, Nikol Pashinyan referred to the actions and steps taken willingly or not by certain groups forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, which pose a threat to the national security of the Republic of Armenia. "They declare about some governments in exile and so on. I want to state very clearly so that it is clear to everyone that there is a government in the Republic of Armenia and that government is sitting in this hall. And I want all of us to make this message very clear. If necessary, appropriate steps should be taken and appropriate measures should be taken so that external forces do not use certain circles to create a threat to Armenia's security. I say again, it’s another question whether they do it willingly or not, but it's a question that needs to be answered. I am not ready to draw conclusions on this topic today, but I want to clearly state that no other government can exist in the Republic of Armenia apart from the government of the Republic of Armenia. If anyone in the Republic of Armenia identifies himself as a government, it is a matter of national security for Armenia, and I hope that the existence of that issue does not mean that our bodies have failed in their work. I want this message to be clear to everyone, and this is not just a statement that just comes out of the loudspeaker. This is a clear statement, and this statement must be expressed in real life. I want this to be clear to all of us. Those who come with these kind of statements have had the opportunity to take that responsibly, and we have seen what they have done with that opportunity. I say again: in the Republic of Armenia, there is no other government apart from the government of the Republic of Armenia, has not been and cannot be at all. Let's say everyone goes, rents an apartment and puts up a sign, saying: We are the government of this or that. Excuse me, but again, such actions against the state, which already cross the line of respectful-disrespectful, and receive that logic, cannot remain unresponded by the Republic of Armenia."

The government adopted a decision proposing to continue the measure of social support for forcibly displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh on the basis of the "40 thousand + 10 thousand AMD" program for another 9 months, that is, to continue the support provided to cover living and other expenses from April to December 2024 inclusive. As noted by the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Narek Mkrtchyan, the proposed program preserves the main conditions for the "40 thousand + 10 thousand" measure. "At the same time, with this new program, we are expanding the range of beneficiaries, in particular we are considering family members displaced after 2020 as beneficiaries. Today, children who were born or will be born in forcibly displaced families or all children under the age of 18, whose parent or guardian or trustee who submitted an application for financial support, is a beneficiary of the measure, will also become beneficiaries of the program”. Regarding the topic, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Armenian government continues various programs to support our compatriots forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the government's decision, 19 million AMD will be allocated from the reserve fund to provide humanitarian aid to around 1.5 million people who were displaced from Gaza due to the recent military operations in the Gaza Strip and settled at the Rafah checkpoint, who have found themselves in severe socio-economic conditions. As the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan noted, the Armenian government proposes to provide humanitarian aid, food and medicine, to the displaced persons, addressing their primary socio-economic needs. The humanitarian cargo will include canned food, dry food, medicines. In total, the volume of humanitarian aid amounts to 29.94 tons.

Referring to the decision, the Prime Minister reminded that he announced about the delivery of humanitarian cargo during his official visit to the Arab Republic of Egypt. According to the Prime Minister, there were questions related to logistics, and there was the need for the Egyptian government's support in delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. "During the visit, we reached this agreement, because due to the situation, we cannot deliver the cargo directly to the Gaza Strip and deliver it to the beneficiaries. For this goal, we also reached an agreement with the representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt at the working level."