Your trusted source

An 11% increase in Armenia’s military spending is a rather low indicator in the post-war period for the restoration of the security system and reforms, MP Tigran Abrahamyan from the opposition With Honor faction said in the parliament on Tuesday, referring to the draft state budget for 2022.

He noted that the defense budget of the country makes up 345 billion drams which is 11% more compared to the 2021 budget.

Abrahamyan also criticized the slow pace of military reforms, adding it was assumed that the reforms should have been approved before the parliamentary debates on the 2022 draft state budget in order to incorporate the conceptual priorities in the document.

Abrahamyan stated that funds should be directed to making the military career more appealing and creating favorable conditions for it. The lawmaker believes statements on army reforms or increasing the attractiveness of the military service as ends in themselves will eventually destroy the existing resources in the armed forces.

Noting that the officers are the backbone of the army, the opposition MP stressed that the state should always stay focused on their problems.

According to Abrahamyan, after the events of 2018 and last year’s war, the Armenian military had no “value” for the current authorities and were a false target for them to justify their own failures and to shift responsibility elsewhere.

The deputy paid respects to all servicemen who have served in the Armenian army at all times, underlining that the state needs them and without them there can be no reforms in the security sphere.