On December 20, a ceremonial meeting took place at the National Security Service of RA on the occasion of the Day of the National Security Bodies of the Republic of Armenia, in which the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan participated.

The director of the NSS, Major General Armen Abazyan, delivered a welcoming speech, congratulating the officers of the National Security Bodies on their professional holiday and presented the most significant results of the work done in 2022.

“Against the general background of the current geopolitical confrontation and the processes unfolding in our region, as part of the implementation of the tasks assigned to the National Security Service, in the field of external threats to the national security of the Republic of Armenia, new events, dangers and their various manifestations have been recorded, in the direction of timely identification, assessment, counteraction and neutralization of which the Service has taken the necessary steps,” A. Abazyan said.

In his speech, the Director of the NSS noted that special attention is paid to the coordination of the work of the Interagency Commission on the Issues of Prisoners of Wars, Hostages and Missing Persons during 2022, which was entrusted to the National Security Service, within which a new commission and a working group operating under it were formed.

“The commission has already convened a number of meetings and started coordinating the work of various departments in this area. A number of meetings were organized with the parents of the captives and missing persons, during which the issues raised by the latter were discussed and specific instructions were given to the members of the commission,” said Armen Abazyan.

Summing up the work carried out by the main divisions of the National Security Bodies in 2022, A. Abazyan stated that there are still many unresolved issues, for the elimination of which the NSS carries out daily consistent work.

“I assure you that the National Security Service is in control of the operative situation in the country and will consistently ensure the security of the individual, society and the state, the territorial integrity of the country, sovereignty, the constitutional order, the natural development of the economy, as well as will neutralize threats to the internal and external security of the state,” said the Director of the NSS of RA.

On the occasion of the professional holiday, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan also congratulated the officers of the National Security Bodies, who, appreciating the work and dedication of the National Security Service, noted:

“The National Security Service is the body the scope of work and efficiency of which is not visible to everyone and the information is not available to everyone, and this is one of the features of the Service. And I emphasize this because I appreciate the dedicated work of the NSS. The National Security Service is one of the most important pillars of our state, a body, a system of state administration, which is obliged to be the most state-oriented, and, on the other hand, a body which possesses complete information about all the problems existing in the country and around it. Unless all the challenges to our country’s security are not addressed, it means that we cannot consider all our work to be sufficiently effective, because we are facing unusual challenges.”    

On the occasion of the professional holiday, a number of NSS officers were honored by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with state awards, letters of appreciation and commemorative medals for courage and dedication in the performance of their service duties.

The head of the Main Directorate of Operative-Technical Department of the NSS, Colonel Karen Gharibyan was awarded the military rank of Major General.

Colonel David Sanamyan, Head of the Department of Military Counterintelligence of the NSS, was awarded the military rank of Major General.

For merits in the development of jurisprudence, strengthening legal order and rule of law, the adviser to the Director of the NSS, Doctor of Legal Sciences, Professor Vahe Yengibaryan was awarded the honorary title of Honored Lawyer of RA.

In accordance with the message of the day, the NSS Director of RA, the Deputy Directors, the heads of departments and the commander of the Border Guard Troops of the NSS of RA paid tribute to the memory of the border guards who heroically died in the line of duty, and laid flowers at the khachkars-monuments erected in their honor.