During a meeting with young people held as part of the “The Victorious” initiative, second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said he regrets that the “Nation-Army” plan wasn’t carried out and said he liked the plan.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t carried out. Now the government has introduced the idea of a militia,” Kocharyan said and added that he was surprised that one of the deputy defense ministers recently declared that he isn’t aware of the “Nation-Army” plan (Gabriel Balayan-ed.). “Perhaps the “Nation-Army” was the right path. Perhaps it isn’t necessary to renounce the plan just because the idea was introduced by another defense minister. I don’t understand this approach. I believe Armenia needs to have a comprehensive solution,” he said, adding that the society trusts the army the most and understands that its safety depends on the army.

In this regard, he stressed the need to make military service more attractive. “The government needs to take steps to encourage military service. People need to understand that if they haven’t served in the army, they can’t serve as state officials. If the government does this, it will show that the issue is so important that people not having served won’t be able to hold positions in government. Now it is the opposite. I get the impression that military service stands in the way of holding state positions and pursuing a career,” Kocharyan said.