The President of the Republic, Vahagn Khachaturyan, attended the opening of the Armenian Democracy Forum with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and representatives of the country's top leadership.

The President of the Republic made a speech.

"I am glad to welcome the participants and guests of the Armenian Democracy Forum. This comprehensive event, which is already becoming traditional, is another proof and testimony that Armenia has steadily and steadfastly stepped on the path of establishing democracy and democratic institutions, and this step is irreversible.

From the day of its creation, our republic declared its commitment to democratic and universal values and principles. During more than three decades of independence, the victory of democracy in our country was created in the presence of many and various obstacles: vicious phenomena in the state administration apparatus, semi-war situation, and serious security challenges.

But in honor of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, we can confidently state that democracy is already a fact in our country.

Of course, the 2020 war and the subsequent external and internal political problems and challenges were a severe test for democratic values and ideas in Armenia. But the essential thing in this situation was that the Armenian authorities, not retreating from the essence and principles of democracy, followed the most democratic and acceptable way of solving the problems. I am referring to the extraordinary parliamentary elections held in 2021, which became the most effective and transparent means of expressing the will of our citizens.

Dear attendees,

The title of the Democracy Forum is already responsible and binding for the statesmen here, the representatives of the executive and legislative bodies, and our citizens following the forum's work, because democracy is not only a set of freedoms but also a responsibility. A free citizen, a free state and public figure, a representative of civil society, bears much greater responsibility in a free and democratic state than in any other system.

This is an irrefutable truth because, in the end, the citizen said yes to the existence of the independent Republic of Armenia in the Independence referendum; the citizen again decides the issue of the country's leadership with his vote in the parliamentary or other elections. That vote is a responsibility, which I think is one of the most essential pillars of democracy. In the 2021 parliamentary elections, our citizens, with their free expression of will, entirely took that responsibility with their vote.

Dear participants and guests of the Democracy Forum
I also want to address a reality that gives rise to various interpretations. It is no secret that in the presence of external challenges in our country, the Karabakh problem, democracy has been subordinated to security issues for years.

At the highest level, the establishment of democratic institutions was ignored, which was attempted to be presented as a threat. I want to emphasize that such an opposition is not only unfounded but on the contrary, democracy is one of the primary guarantees of the strength and strengthening of the state. After all, Armenia's independence referendum and Armenia's first presidential and parliamentary elections were held under the conditions of war imposed on us. Hence, our statehood is, in a sense, also the birth of democracy.

The situation is the same today; when the wounds of the war of 2020 are still fresh, the country is still coming to its senses after heavy losses, and it seems that democratic institutions have been pushed to the background. Still, as I already mentioned, the Armenian government found the solution through democracy. I believe that democracy is the weapon with which we can and should present ourselves to the world.

Concluding my speech, I would also like to emphasize an important fact. Democracy presupposes peace because, without it, it is impossible or tough to have well-established democratic institutions. And in this sense, Armenia is steadily moving towards democracy and peace."