“Twenty-year-old Armenia is full of optimism and belief”
Today Armenia marks the 20th anniversary of independence. The celebrations started with a military parade at Republic Square.
"In the next twenty years we will be able to build a country, which will come close to our ideals," Serzh Sargsyan said in his addressing speech at the square.
He noted that before independence a large part of the country was a disaster zone. "We were at the brink of war. But we handed the ballots to our children and said, "Yes!" he said.
According to the county's leader, the choice of our people was deeply conscientious.
"Reinstatement of our statehood was a holiday - our dream came true but first of all it was a responsibility. From that moment on we became responsible for our security, our economy, our culture, our present and our future," he said.
"This is a new Armenia which remembers much but is not vindictive, which has seen much but today is looking into future," Serzh Sargsyan stressed in his speech.
"This parade is a glorious episode of the Armenian nation's perpetual march.
Long live the Republic of Armenia! Long live the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia! Long live our constructors! Long live our brothers and sisters who are scattered throughout the world," he said.
Serzh Sargsyan said Armenia's most precious possession is the generation of independence - ‘a generation, which represents citizens of a free country and cannot imagine any other status.'
"In two decades, we have made a huge leap forward, however there is still much to be done. Achievements and failures - they are all ours," he said adding that the troops marching through the square are 20 years old.
"This is the Armenia which is only twenty years old - full of twenty-year's ardor and enthusiasm, full of passion for life and belief, full of optimism and ambitious programs, but not with the naivety of a twenty-year old," Serzh Sargsyan said in conclusion.
