Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended a reception held the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the New Year and Christmas. The Acting Prime Minister offered his best wishes for the holiday season to the staffs of the central office of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia and Armenian diplomatic missions abroad.

Addressing those in attendance, the Acting Prime Minister stated, in part:
“Mr. Minister,
Dear diplomatic corps representatives,

We can state that those foreign political achievements recorded by our country in 2018 were the reflection of domestic development, because in fact, Armenia’s image boasts a serious improvement worldwide, and the changes that started in May and reached their peak in December, 2018 by the holding of early parliamentary elections gives us a good basis for achieving serious success in foreign policy and diplomacy.

This year two major victories of democracy were registered in the Republic of Armenia. The first was a non-violent, velvet popular revolution that took place in April-May and recorded the victory of the will of the people, and the second is the parliamentary elections which, in fact, were evaluated by international observers as unprecedented in the history of our country and were held in accordance with democratic standards.

Why is it important to talk about this in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Because all the way through past period, the Foreign Ministry, our diplomatic corps were forced to give important explanations for a long time after the elections, make various adjustments, find different formulations so that there were no negative influences on our country or they were neutralized. Consequently, I hope that as a result of these elections and processes, our diplomatic corps has saved enough energy, which will be fully used to achieve the ultimate goal, to achieve real success in foreign policy, as well as to focus on the foreign policy component of the Artsakh issue, as well as to convert the change in Armenia’s image into specific diplomatic and economic results.

I think our main task for the upcoming period is to raise awareness of the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in the international community, because unfortunately, we do not always and not everywhere meet this understanding. This is a problem that really matters for our national security.

We must be convinced that the international community perceives the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh exactly as it is. Unfortunately, today we cannot state this everywhere, and we need to work seriously in this direction.

The next problem is to use the new image of Armenia to stimulate investment activity in our country, and, of course, the role of our diplomatic corps is very important in this regard. I hope that recent events have allowed our diplomats not only to save energy, but also to get new energy.

We will usher in 2019 with a new page, there will be no more unresolved issues, there will be a new government, which to some extent will be old, that is, continuity will be provided, democratic reforms will continue in Armenia. There can be no doubt that democracy is really our faith, our value system, and there can be no deviations from democracy in the Republic of Armenia.

In Armenia, the rule of law, an independent judiciary and the government should conduct foreign policy on the basis of legitimacy as a government with a mandate of the people and representing the interests of the people and the state. We are such a government, and we will continue to remain such. Moreover, only such a government can exist in the Republic of Armenia that is capable and authorized to represent the people.

I want to congratulate all of us on this important event, since obtaining the people’s mandate and holding that mandate gives each and every one of us great strength. I do hope that just as you have the power of the national mandate, people will feel the power of your activity, your professionalism, skills, and internal manifestations of foreign policy will be more and more tangible in 2019.

Finally, the government of Armenia, all government agencies both inside and outside the country serve the purpose of increasing the security level and the well-being of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, and there is no doubt that Armenian diplomats have always been committed to this idea. I hope that the time has come for us to lead our service to this idea to greater and more significant victories.

I want to thank you for your diplomatic service and wish you continued success in this service. We hope that the vote of confidence that our government has received from the people will also be transferred to our diplomats, who will become more and more confident in the international arena. Happy New Year and Merry Christmas”

In conclusion, for high sense of responsibility, proper conduct and organization of the 17th Francophone Summit in the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan awarded a group of Foreign Ministry representatives with letters of appreciation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.