At its special session held Tuesday, National Assembly of Armenia passed, at second and final reading, the bill on amendments to the Law on Military Service and the Status of Servicemen.

Thus, starting with the 2025 winter draft, the duration of compulsory military service in Armenia will be reduced by six months—from 24 months down to 18 months.

These amendments to the aforesaid law provides for a reduction in the duration of compulsory military service in Armenia through an increase in the number of contract servicemen.

The adoption of these amendments is expected to also reduce the costs of mandatory military service in Armenia starting from the second half of 2027. This is because the military service term starting in January 2026 will end in July 2027.

The draft law on reducing the mandatory military service term in Armenia has been under discussion since 2021. Initially, it was planned to take effect in summer 2026, but on October 21, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that this change would come into force starting from January 1, 2026.