“The Fourth Republic has been established and has become a reality.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this while presenting the government’s five-year program in the National Assembly, recalling that on June 7, 2026, the people voted for the concept of the “Real Armenia.”
He considers this choice historic, as it fundamentally alters the purpose of our state, moving away from the approach in the 1990 Declaration that the state must serve the restoration of historical justice. “That old perception was reflected in the Karabakh movement,” he added.
Instead, the “Real Armenia” is based on the logic that the state’s sole purpose is to ensure the security and happiness of its own citizens within its internationally recognized 29,743 square kilometers. Voters cast their ballots for this exact new vision.
The text of the new Constitution will be published in the coming months, and as Pashinyan reaffirmed, it will no longer contain any reference to the 1990 Declaration of Independence.
The Prime Minister also urged an end to searching for Armenia in neighboring countries. He explained that when we attempt to find our homeland within the territories of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, or Georgia, we justify and open the door for them to search for their homelands within our country. The result is that we are searching in four places, while they are searching for their own in ours.
Addressing the recent process of Israel’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide, he noted that international actors are using the bones of our martyrs as weapons to strike at one another. Pashinyan insists that these manipulations must end.
As for the referendum on EU membership, he stated it will only take place once Armenia has officially applied to the EU, received a response, and has a clear roadmap in place.
This speech definitively outlines the current government's ideological break from the foundational principles of the Third Republic. Abandoning the Declaration of Independence is no longer a matter of discussion but has entered a practical phase, serving as a direct signal to neighboring states regarding a radical shift in our foreign policy vector. The new Constitution will become the legal formalization of this reality.
At the same time, the slowing down of the process regarding the European Union and the conditioning of clear steps indicate that the government is avoiding abrupt, uncalculated geopolitical turns. In the coming months, when the draft Constitution is published, it will become clear how the theses voiced today regarding the “Real Armenia” will be legally formulated and whether society is prepared to accept an entirely new model of statehood.
