Dear people, dear compatriots in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora,

It is even hard to believe that there are only a few minutes left until the end of 2020, a year of which we will keep bitter memories for a long time ahead. A war with severe consequences, the COVID-19 pandemic: 2020 will be remembered with these milestones in our people’s history.

On New Year’s Eve, our hearts and minds are with the families of our martyrs, our brothers and sisters who fell in the war, as well as with their children, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, brothers and sisters.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and minds are with the families of our missing soldiers - their children, mothers, fathers, wives, brothers and sisters.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and minds are with the families of our captive compatriots, their children, mothers, fathers, wives, brothers and sisters. During this time I had the opportunity to meet and communicate with many of them, and I must say that this is just the case when grief brings people closer to each other. Unfortunately, by the end of 2020 we have not yet managed to identify and find out our missing compatriots; we have not been able to repatriate all our captives, and I want to apologize to the families for this situation, without talking about the reasons.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and minds are with our soldiers, officers, generals, our army, our border guards on combat duty who are making heroic efforts to stabilize the post-war situation and reinstate the nationwide feeling of security.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and thoughts are with the police and security officers who are enforcing security and public order in the Republic of Armenia.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and minds are with our doctors and paramedics who have for a while now been fighting the coronavirus. The war opened up a second front for them, and our doctors saved thousands of lives of wounded servicemen with the same heroic drive.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and thoughts are with those servicemen and civilians who became disabled during the war, and I especially want to tell them that life is not over and you will still make your personal contribution to Homeland’s strengthening.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and minds are with our brothers and sisters who are back from the battlefields, but keep reliving every minute and second that they spend on the front lines.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and thoughts are with those who lost their homes due to the war. For the same reason, I will refrain from stating the measures that the government has already implemented, is taking and will take to solve their problems. Everything necessary will be done indeed.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and minds are with our compatriots in Artsakh. Our beloved Artsakh is experiencing extremely difficult days. Of course, the presence of Russian peacekeepers provides strong security guarantees for our compatriots in Artsakh. The status of Artsakh continues to be an absolute priority for us, and political and diplomatic efforts must be made in this direction.

On this New Year’s Eve, our hearts and thoughts are with our compatriots in the Diaspora. Your continued love and daily affection matters even thousands of kilometers away from Artsakh and Armenia, and our unity cannot be disrupted in any way. We all know that.

On New Year’s Eve, however, our hearts and minds are mostly with our children, who were deprived of Christmas carols and fairy tales this year. Children and their future are the most important motivators in our national mentality, and I wonder after all what we should do for our children in such a difficult situation.

The November 9 statement called for an end to hostilities, but we still feel the aftermath of the war. These aftershocks may have a military bias; they sometimes have a moral-psychological aspect, sometimes - political, and our biggest task is to defy them if we are to ensure stability in Armenia and Artsakh and make decisions conducive to stability. Our greatest duty before our children and before the nation is to address the problems we are facing today; we should embark upon the cause of building the future as soon as possible.

What future do we see for our country, our children and our people? These issues are important not only for tomorrow but also for today’s developments. We have to build Armenia in a new way; we have to build Artsakh in a new way, we have to build our optimism in a new way, and I want to start 2021 with that very mood. The environment has changed around Artsakh and around Armenia. We did everything to prevent such a change in the environment.

But today there are specific realities, and we must face those realities, because this is a necessary precondition for managing the situation. The logic of chaos, panic, fear should be overcome minute by minute; we must rule out any such factor as may lead to such realities. The very first minutes of 2021 should be the “zero point” for us to usher in the outset of our new national rise.

What do we need for this? First of all, we must build up a new security environment, the most important component of which is the launch of army reforms. We should further strengthen the relations with our primary security partner – Russia, and create new security guarantees in this context.

The next key point is the establishment of a credible judiciary system. This is a priority issue and an increasing challenge for the country, including in terms of security.

The introduction of modern education concepts and bringing each individual’s competitiveness up to international standards is our next major task, which will ultimately lead to a significant increase in the competitiveness of our society.

And finally, the people’s power, that is, the people’ power to form a government must become ever stronger with each passing day, as this is an indisputable reality for all time.

Dear compatriots, dear people in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora,

2021 should come as a year of labor for us, not a year of ordinary work, but a year of striving, where working hard and creating added value should be a primary task for each of us. Our national revival should be based on the Work-Education-Work formula; our optimism should be reinstated through labor and learning; national happiness should be built against the background of work and education.

In this difficult time of sorrow and anxiety we must not forget about happiness, about the happiness of our children, of our generations, because no other goal gives us as much strength to live as the goal of our children’s happiness. And in order to be stronger, we must have more and more children, a large family with 4-5 children must become a rule in us. We must implement new state programs to promote maternity in 2021, because birth and motherhood are the undeniable symbol of our vitality and strength.

This day next year all the lights will be brighter in Armenia and Artsakh; there will be Christmas trees shining everywhere, which will be the greatest tribute of respect to our martyrs, which will be our greatest service to our commitment to building a bright future for our children.

Welcome to 2021! On the eve of Christmas, I would like to greet you with the following words of the New Testament, the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the mourners, for they shall be comforted… Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

Welcome to 2021, the year which should usher in a new era for us, the year of our national revival.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!