Anti-Corruption National Initiative
ANTI-CORRUPTIONNATIONALINITIATIVE

168.am: Selective Accountability. What Won’t We Know on May 28?

According to a publication by 168.am, the military display planned for May 28 at Republic Square is being presented by Nikol Pashinyan’s government as a “report” to the public on the military achievements of recent years and the rearmament of the army. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has stated that citizens should see with their own eyes the weapons acquired in recent years and what the government calls an “army with a new logic.”

According to Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, weapons purchased particularly in 2022–2025, which have not been presented to the public until now, will be displayed. He also stated that Armenia’s defense spending amounted to around $1.7 billion in 2025, whereas in 2018 the figure was approximately $640 million. According to his claim, in the last three years alone, 5.4 times more money has been spent on armaments than during the entire 1998–2018 period.

168.am also recalls Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that the increase in Armenia’s external debt, which has reached approximately $8 billion, is also due to arms purchases. However, when media outlets tried to find out from the Ministry of Defense exactly how much state debt had been incurred for the acquisition of armaments and how much money had been spent on purchasing new weapons after 2022, the ministry refused to provide those figures.

On the one hand, the authorities speak of billions of dollars in military investments, while on the other, they do not present the full structure of the purchases, the details of the contracts, or an assessment of their effectiveness. Against this backdrop, according to the article, the military issue is increasingly turning into a political and electoral tool.

168.am also addresses the Indian and French armaments acquired in recent years, including the Akash-1S surface-to-air missile systems, Pinaka multiple rocket launcher systems, CAESAR self-propelled artillery systems, and Armenian-produced DEV-3 and Dragonfly-3 unmanned aerial vehicles. At the same time, it is emphasized that even amid such a large-scale display, the authorities continue to restrict journalists’ access and avoid open professional discussions.

According to the article’s conclusion, the May 28 event is not only a military display, but also a political report by the authorities and an election campaign event. And as long as a complete and transparent report has not been presented on arms purchases, state debt, and the billions of dollars in expenditures in the defense sector, the actual effectiveness and purposes of these funds will remain questionable.

168.am

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