Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's congratulatory message on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia

Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

September 21 is the Republic of Armenia's Independence Day, and today, we celebrate its 33rd anniversary.

On this day in 1991, Armenia held an Independence referendum. During the referendum, citizens went to polling stations to answer the following question, which was written on the ballot: "Do you agree that the Republic of Armenia should be an independent, democratic state outside the USSR?"

At that time, 95 percent of citizens with voting rights answered "Yes" to the question, and the Republic of Armenia became an independent state.

Since that day, our country has gone through many trials: wars, thousands of victims, blockades, economic and political crises, and emigration. As a result, we realized more objectively that the question put in the referendum in 1991 needs an answer every day, and we need to answer that question. Let's answer by making a note on the ballot in the polling station and with our behavior, manners, and activities.

The core purpose of the Government of the Republic of Armenia's activity is to practically answer "Yes" to the question posed in the 1991 referendum every day, and I must report with satisfaction that our country's level of Independence is growing daily thanks to democracy, balancing, and a balanced foreign policy.

Since the People's nonviolent velvet revolution of 2018, the benchmark of all our decisions has been and continues to be Independence, statehood, democracy, and the concretization and objectification of these concepts based on international rules. In this process, we have made mistakes and failed. Still, by reaching the brink of losing Independence in 2020, we have received a real opportunity to put the theoretical thesis of the permanence of our state on practical rails with the strategy of Real Armenia.

Dear people, dear citizens of the Republic of Armenia,

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow were the days of the independence referendum. Every day, there is an independence referendum, and we make a choice.

The referendum question is answered every day by everyone who pays statutory taxes (Yes) and hides taxes (No), every official who acts honestly (Yes) and takes bribes (No), every employee (Yes), and every individual who treats work with complacency (No), anyone who respects the law (Yes) and considers breaking the law as a means of self-righteousness (No).

I bow to the people who said "Yes" and are saying "Yes" in the Independence Referendum. I love those people, and I'm proud of them. I apologize for all the obvious and possible mistakes that we have made and, if we say so, will continue to make because man is fallible.

It is essential to maintain sight of the critical goal of Independence and statehood of the Republic of Armenia as a platform and mechanism to ensure its citizens' safety, freedom, and well-being in its internationally recognized territory of 29 thousand 743 square kilometers.

Glory to the martyrs, and long live the Republic of Armenia.

And long live our children who will live in Free and Happy Armenia.

I congratulate everyone on the Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia.