Armenia plans shorter military service

YEREVAN

Armenian government has announced plans to reduce the length of mandatory military service by 2027, sparking significant security concerns from opposition parties.

The reform is part of a Defense Ministry initiative to restructure the Armenian armed forces, recently endorsed by the National Security Council.

While the document does not specify the extent of the reduction from the current 24-month service requirement, it outlines a plan to compensate for the decrease in conscripts by increasing the recruitment of professional contract soldiers.

This will be facilitated through an existing program allowing conscripts to transition into five-year contracts with the military after completing just six months of service.

Leonid Nersisian, a military expert from the APRI Armenia think tank, expressed skepticism, estimating that at least 6,500 additional contract soldiers would be needed to offset a six-month reduction in conscription.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously promised to transition Armenia’s conscription-based military to a fully professional model during his 2021 election campaign but did not specify a timeline for the shift.