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The Security Council of Armenia held a regular meeting on Friday in Yerevan, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. As the government press service reported, the meeting shall approve Armenia’s National Security Strategy, in addition to discussing other security-related issues. In that context, Prime Minister Pashinyan delivered a message.

“Our nation has existed for several millennia, though being Armenian did not mean the same thing during this time. The meaning of the term has changed over time due to various circumstances, events, and factors.

We do not know what our compatriots meant by saying Armenian in the time of King Artashes, but we know for sure that they did not mean what we mean nowadays. We do not now know whether the Armenians who lived 2000 years ago viewed their actions from the perspective of our present interests, we do not know at all whether there was such a process of thought or not. But now we can do that, knowing the past, thinking not only about the present and the future, but also about the millennial horizon.

Perhaps this is the turning point where the national ideology becomes a vital necessity, an institution of practical significance, when based on our past and present experience, we are facing the task of not only formulating what needs to be done today, but also sending such a fundamental message that would liaise between the future generations of Armenians and the Armenian who lived a thousand years ago. This is our vision of developing national identity and consciousness. National identity develops on the basis of our history, those positive and negative impressions we draw from past experiences, as well as on our vision of the future, which is organically connected with the past and the present,” Pashinyan stated.

In Pashinyan’s words, national identity has a core component, which implies connectivity with the roots and a sense of ownership of the heritage and values formed throughout history. This in turn should develop individual faith and trust in one’s own strength, as well as people’s collective faith and trust in their own strength.

Pashinyan noted that the Republic of Armenia is the guarantor of the security and freedom of the Armenians of Artsakh. The Republic of Armenia is a pan-Armenian state and represents all Armenians from across the globe.

The Armenian people boast the ability of defying historical disasters; we have reached the 21st century thanks to the skills and qualities we have developed on the way to building our own statehood. The awareness of these historical facts helped us reinstate our sovereignty immediately after the Medz Yeghern.

The Armenian state is the sole guarantor of our nation’s survival and development. Therefore, our statehood must exist forever since the Armenian people must exist forever. The PM next enlisted the national values and pan-Armenian rules of coexistence as formulated in the national security strategy.

“Throughout its history, Armenia has been looked upon as the “west of the east” and the “east of the west,” often becoming a scene of a clash of civilizations. We reject the presumption of a clash of civilizations, and in international relations we position ourselves as supporters of the dialogue of civilizations. Our vision of international relations implies international and interethnic dialogue based on mutual respect, and a mutual desire to understand and be understood.

Promoting dialogue among civilizations, peoples, States and multilateral relations should be the reflection of our commitment to promoting international peace and stability. Armenia stands ready to become a platform for such dialogue,” said Pashinyan.

“Our primary task is to get the Armenian nation out of that vicious cycle where geopolitical factors can predetermine the fate of our statehood. Our statehood should be dependent on the collective will of the Armenian people.

And, in fact, with this National Security Strategy, we are setting a new bar for ourselves. But I want to say that this is not so much a bar, but it would be more correct to call it a bar, because it imposes a proportionate responsibility on each of us, starting with senior officials and ending with ordinary citizens. The survival of the Armenian statehood depends on our will to bear that responsibility and exercise our rights, and I am convinced that as a nation, we are actually prepared to take on this responsibility today,” the PM said.