We Cannot Say for Sure What Other Paths Would Have Been Like and What They Would Have Led To: Pashinyan's Address

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has delivered a message: "Dear people, dear compatriots, on August 23, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR adopted the Declaration of Independence of Armenia, and today we commemorate the 33rd anniversary of that event. The Declaration of Independence is a pivotal document that laid the foundation for our current statehood. It was adopted at the peak of the Artsakh movement that began in 1988, during a time of economic, political, and ideological crises in the Soviet Union.

Before and especially after the war in 2020, I have read and re-read the text of the Declaration multiple times. I must confess, my post-war readings differ somewhat from my pre-war interpretations. A critical analysis of the text shows that we ultimately chose a discourse and content based on the very formulas that made us part of the Soviet Union; this refers to a confrontational discourse with the regional environment that continuously kept us in conflict with our neighbors.

With the Declaration of Independence, we declared the path of leaving the Soviet Union, but we also closed all paths to disengage from the Soviet Union, stating that with the Declaration of Independence adopted at the end of the 20th century, we adopted a formula that had already led us to the loss of independence at the beginning of the 20th century. Now, we do not know, we cannot say for sure what other paths would have been like and what they would have led to, but analyzing and understanding the path we have already taken is our historical duty.

Before taking the office of Prime Minister in 2018 and afterward, I have regarded the Declaration of Independence as a 'biblical message,' while the declaration, no matter how fundamental a document it is, needed and still needs thorough examination, because it is, after all, a political document with all the implications that arise from it.

And now, on the 33rd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I want to emphasize that our government's adopted agenda for peace is the agenda of independence, because if we have peace, we will have independence. As long as we do not have peace, the ghost of the USSR will hover over our sky, over the sky of our region. I choose independence, sovereignty, and democracy. The citizens of the Republic of Armenia choose independence, sovereignty, and democracy. Glory to the martyrs, and long live the Republic of Armenia!"