I am convinced that in order to ensure the permanence of our state and our identity, we must first overcome the imperial propaganda of the USSR, as a result of which we will be able to record and “digest” several key realities. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in his address at the Sardarapat Memorial on the occasion of Republic Day anniversary.

“Reality number 1: Our identity is our state, our state is our identity because all the features that determine our identity have been acquired, formed, and established thanks to statehood. That is, under the conditions of the existence of statehood, by state decisions, and or state support.

Reality number 2: The Republic of Armenia with 29,743 square kilometers of internationally recognized borders is an expression of our people’s achievements, not losses. Our people no longer need to search for a homeland, there is no need to dream about a homeland because our dreams have been fulfilled, the homeland—found, in the Republic of Armenia, in the state.

Having gone through cruel trials since 2020, at the cost of the lives of our martyrs, we have received a historic opportunity to develop our sovereignty, understand our statehood, and make it lasting.

Today, we are more of a state than ever, we are more sovereign than ever, we are more independent than ever.

Reality number 3: Our history of the last 4.5 centuries, historical Armenia, sends us one main message each: ‘do not repeat that history, do not follow my path, do not repeat me.’ This is a quote from the message of historical Armenia of our 450 years of history. These are the messages that history and historical Armenia send us. The government formed by the election of the people of the Republic of Armenia has understood and is implementing this historical message.

Reality number 4: The security guaranteed by external forces is deceptive. We ourselves are the guarantors of our security, and the effective means of guaranteeing this security are, first of all, political, diplomatic tools: normalizing of relations with immediate neighbors, establishing of peace with neighbors, and not with distant ones. And pursuing of a balanced and balancing foreign policy on this basis and the opportunities it creates.

Reality number 5: The state is a responsibility, freedom is a responsibility, the long-term freedom and well-being of society and each individual are directly proportional to the public and individual awareness of this reality and the code of conduct arising from that awareness.

Circumventing responsibility for freedom and the state is the path to the loss of both freedom and statehood. The quality of that responsibility and the devotion to that responsibility are the guarantee of the freedom and well-being of every citizen.

It is these realities that the ideology of the real Armenia records, emphasizing that the Homeland is the state. You love your homeland, strengthen your state, get rich and make it richer through individual effort, here is the homeland, here is bread, here is the state, here is [your] home. Armenia is my home, the people are my family," Pashinyan added.