Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has sent a congratulatory message on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day.

The message particularly reads as follows:

“Dear journalists, colleagues,

I congratulate us all on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. The Government of Armenia attaches great importance to the role of freedom of press in the country’s development, the strengthening of democracy and the ensuring of public oversight.

I am certain that Armenian press has never been as free in the past thirty years as it is today, and this has also been recorded by international organizations. According to the World Press Freedom Index of the Reporters Without Borders international organization, in 2019, Armenia made progress by ranking 61st, compared with 2018. In 2020, Armenia maintained its position, but it dropped by 2 points in 2021, and this was mainly due to certain restrictions set as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the war. Nevertheless, Armenia remains one of the countries with the most freedom of the press in the post-Soviet territory.

I am certain that Armenia will continue to make progress in the near future. I believe it is important for media representatives to ensure objectivity and provide full and comprehensive information to the public. The crises of the coronavirus pandemic and the war showed the importance of and need for meeting these objectives.

Freedom of the press is the major value that we Armenians must maintain and enhance. Long live free press, long live free journalists!”