- What are the main goals of defense reforms, held in Armenia?
- Reforms in the defense sphere were initiated by Armenian President when the latter yet occupied the position of the Defense Minister. In the recent years, significant work has been carried out in this direction.
The defense reforms aim at establishing a more flexible and modern system, based on civil control, defense planning and democratic principles, which would meet modern military standards. Systems, which are capable of efficiently providing for military security of Armenia, defending national security interests, operatively reacting to all crisis situations and securing fulfillment of all international commitments Armenia has.
During realization of reforms, we actively use international practice. At the same time, our goal is to establish a defense system, which will not simply be the copy of any already existing model, but will be our national one, since the security environment of our country is specific, and, despite the presence of similar elements in other countries, it has significant peculiarities. It is not as much important for us that standards are applied in this system, as important is for them to fully meet the peculiarities of Armenia’s national security: it should solve national military security problems and at the same time it should be able to interoperate in order to provide for international security, improving its positions and authority.
- In May, 2008, you said that defense reforms would lead to certain internal opposition and would require serious psychological changes. What is the assessment you give today?
- I would like to say that not only the Armenian Army, but also Armies of the whole world strive to develop and improve. Our enemy, Azerbaijan, is not passive either and carries out works on increasing its military capacities; simultaneously the likelihood of military threat realization from the part of this country also increases. We have no alternative; our security guarantee is the combatant-ready and modern Army. In this context, the priority task of the defense reforms is to secure superiority of Armenian Armed Forces over the forces of the enemy.
In any system, changes, related to the activity of subdivisions, rights and duties of the military, lead to discords. And this is natural, since the principles and approaches, formed in the course of decades, as well as the stored knowledge, create a pattern world outlook and illusion of perfection among the people, who are guided by those principles and approaches. In this contest, the system of the Defense Ministry is a more sensitive structure, since it coordinates the main functions in organization of the country’s defense. These functions are realized by the military basing on the standards already formed. Thus, any change in the military forces, be it conceptual, structural or personnel change, requires serious justification, first of all because it concerns the security of the state and any citizen, and we do not have the right to be mistaken.
Despite the fact that defense reforms at the given stage have touched upon the command-staff link only, I can state with confidence that we have not faced any special difficulties or serious obstacles in this direction. I believe that the reason is that the Armed Forces’ Command has the understanding for the need of reforms and the striving to strengthen the country’s defense capacity.
- At which stage are defense reforms now? What has been done and which are the tasks that should yet be taken care of?
- The active phase of the reforms in Armed Forces started back in 2005. I would not like to underestimate the work, already carried out in the sphere of military development before that. Those were difficult and vital years in terms of forming the Armed Forces, during which we managed to establish a combat-ready Army, which fulfilled the tasks it was set during Karabakh war, and after that, made Armenia’s borders impregnable.
However, Army formation is a continuous process, which requires constant development, and it does not tolerate use of one and the same approaches in the course of a few years. This leads to stagnation and directly influences the combat-readiness of the Army.
If we try to divide reforms into stages, one can say that the years of 2005-2007 represent the first stage, or the stage of “Elaborating conceptual approaches”. Before starting making practical steps on realizing defense reforms, we needed to elaborate documents of fundamental importance for the country’s security provision system, its viability and development: the National Security Strategy and the Military Doctrine. This became the priority task of the first stage of reforms. Today, I can say with confidence that all tasks of the given stage were fully implemented.
In particular, in 2006-2007, National Security Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and the Military Doctrine were elaborated and approved by a presidential decree. Simultaneously, they carried out serious works on elaborating the legislative field. The law on “Special Civil Service” was elaborated and approved in November, 2007. A number of other legislative changes were realized.
In 2008, the second stage of the reforms was launched. It can be conditionally named “Strategic Defense Review”. The goal of this stage is realization of strategic level reforms – reforms of the command-staff link, elaboration of the Armed Forces structure, etc. This stage is more practical and it requires intensive work.
Assessing the work carried out, I can say that the tasks of the second stage of reforms are realized very efficiently. In particular, in order to realize the strategic defense review, an interdepartmental committee was set up by a presidential decree in 2008, which works according to the schedule, approved by the same decree.
There was a new law on “Defense” elaborated the approved in 2008, which is the main law in defense sphere. It regulates the basics of Armenian defense sphere, the Armed Forces structure, the principles of formation and activity, functions and relations, related to their management, leadership, arrangement and use. According to the law, resubordination of subdivisions was realized, their functions were specified, the missing links are being set up and added up.
Simultaneously, they carry out intensive reforms in spheres, which do not depend on the results of the strategic defense review. In particular, the peacekeeping brigade structure was elaborated and approved. At present, works are in process on replenishing the second company.
We have also initiated works on forming subdivisions, entering the composition of OSCE Quick Response Collective Forces. Establishment of two such subdivisions will significantly improve interoperability of Armenian Armed Forces, that is to say, the capacity of the forces to be deployed outside the country and to get involved in various international missions.
The process of implementing the system of professional training for sergeants has been initiated as well and this is an important factor for increasing professionalism of Armed Forces at the combat level. Reforms are also in process in spheres, such as military education, rear security, financial-budgetary planning.
In general, the second stage of reforms is planned to be completed by the end of 2011, when the process of strategic defense review is over, when all strategic planning documents are elaborated, including the plan for Armed Forces’ development. After completing this stage, we plan to start the third stage of reforms since 2011. This one already includes operative and tactical levels. By this stage, we will complete the many years’ process of defense reforms, and I am sure that as a result we will have Armed Forces, completely meeting the 21st century standards.
- One of reforms’ main components is to attract civil specialists and divide the authorities of the General Staff and the Defense Ministry. Can you, if possible, tell us about those components in detail?
- In order to secure development of Armed Forces, reforms of command-staff level have long become a necessity, since standards in the basis of the defense structure, formed in the post-Soviet period, did not meet modern requirements, logics and spirit of providing military security of the state.
In the process of reforming the command-staff link, we managed to adapt the commonly recognized democratic standards to the environment of the Republic of Armenia’s security, to the national practice, acquired as a result of military actions, the peculiarities of tasks the Armed Forces faces, as a result of which there were principles, meeting international standards and national standards, introduced in the new law on “Defense”.
The first of them is division of the functions of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff of Armed Forces. Minister of Defense is in charge of developing the Armed Forces, elaborating the basic directions of military policy, development of armament and equipment, purchases, the personnel policy, mobilization resource raising. Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, not being the First Deputy Minister of Defense anymore, focuses on strategic planning and mobilization deployment of the Armed Forces and other forces, combat and mobilization readiness of Armed Forces, military training, as well as rear, medical and technical security of the Armed Forces.
The second principle is to preserve the integrated structure of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff of the Armed Forces. That is to say, the General Staff is a state body, which functions under the administration of the Defense Ministry. Such a structure allows the Defense Minister securing and controlling preparation of Armed Forces, combat and mobilization readiness, estimation and collection of mobilization resources, realization of exercise and the obligatory draft.
At the same time, the integrated structure allows the General Staff of Armed Forces participating in elaboration and realization of state programs in the sphere of military policy, development of Armed Forces, mobilization plans, military-industrial complex, development of Armed Forces and military equipment, as well as elaboration of the personnel policy with the use of the professional military potential in making and realizing of defense policy decisions.
The third important principle is to provide for the vertical command from the President of the Republic of Armenia to the Defense Minister, from the Defense Minister to the General Staff, from the General Staff to subdivisions of the Armed Forces. In this chain, the ultimate command of the Armed Forces as the Commander in Chief is realized by the President, the direct command is realized by the Defense Ministry, which organizes and controls the activity of all bodies, entering the system of the Ministry (including the General Staff as well). And the administration of the Armed Forces is realized by the Chief of General Staff, who is the top military official in the Armed Forces.
The process of introducing a civil staff to the system of Defense Ministry is at its final stage. The main goal of this measure is to strengthen civil control over the Armed Forces and increase professionalism in spheres, which do not require special military education (defense policy, finances, jurisprudence, purchases, etc.)
In conditions of implementing the civil staff, the vertical line of subordination to the country’s President and the Defense Minister, as officials, who occupy political positions, allows providing for full civil control. Fixing the constitutional norm of civil control, according to the law on “Defense”, is very important, since the Armed Forces realize the function of providing for the security of the country and the society, that is to say, they are subordinated and accountable to the elected authority, represented by the President, the National Assembly and the Government, which, according to the Constitution and the laws, are in charge of decisions in the sphere of defense. In this context, the Ministry of Defense is the executive body, which provides for direct civil control over the Armed Forces, playing the role of the “mediator” between the Armed Forces and the society.
- In August, 2008, the process of Strategic Defense Review was initiated in Armenia. At which stage is it today?
- Strategic Defense Review is an important stage of strategic planning. This is a complex task for all countries. In case with Armenia, Strategic Defense Review is not an occasionally chosen or artificially imposed process. The necessity to carry it out occurred at the first stage of the defense reforms after elaboration of the National Security Strategy and the Military Doctrine, when it became clear that in order to get results from reforming the defense sphere in prospect, one should have an all-comprehensive and deep approach. One needed to understand and assess the development tendencies in the security sphere, the real capacities and needs of the Armed Forces, the opportunities for international integration and development.
The main goal of the Strategic Defense Review is to secure constant development of defense on the basis of assessing the threats and analyzing the security environment. This allows quite clearly planning for elimination of threats, establishing the corresponding capacities, funding and development, significantly increasing the combat-readiness of the country, securing the necessary flexibility for correct reaction to various situations, as well as cutting down the possibility of critical situations.
As I have already noted, in order to realize the Strategic Defense Review, an interdepartmental committee was set up and the schedule was approved by a presidential decree. According to this schedule, significant work has been already carried out. In particular, the process of assessing the security environment and the threats was completed in 2008. What does this mean? The National Security Strategy and the Military Doctrine present military threats, which Armenia faces, and which form the security environment of our country. However, this is not enough for long-term defense planning. We should have concretized and assessed those threats, realized their current likelihood and development tendencies in the foreseeable future, the level of their influence on vital interests of Armenia, as well as Armenia’s abilities to withstand them.
After conclusion of the given process, the interdepartmental committee took up elaboration of the main planning documents. These are guiding documents, elaborated on the basis of assessing the threats, which should be reflected in the basis of long-term (strategic) planning.
At present, we have moved to the next stage of Strategic Review, when we plan to not only replenish the documents in defense sphere, but also elaborate new ones, the need for which occurred as a result of assessment. Besides, one should improve the entire structure of the Armed Forces, including the types of forces, deployment of subdivisions, armament, tactics. As a result of that, the plan for developing Armed Forces will be elaborated.
- Defense reforms at a certain degree are realized in all three countries of the South Caucasus. It is obvious that their harmonization might become a significant factor in consolidating regional security and stability. Is this prospect acceptable for your foreign counterparts, who support realization of these reforms?
- Of course, as to this issue, our opinions and the opinions of our partners coincide. Armenia has always supported consolidation of regional security, well realizing that in the modern world not a single country can alone withstand modern challenges. In this case, the best variant would be to set up a system of regional security and implement the principle of providing collective security. But unfortunately, there are objective and subjective reasons, which hinder that. In particular, as to the issue of providing for regional security, the opinions and ideas of the countries of the region differ, and, basing on that, the goals of defense reforms differ as well. They do not aim at supplementing each other, but at opposing.
For instance, the basis of defense reforms in Armenia is consolidation of combat-readiness of the country through developing defense capacities, and Azerbaijan, on the contrary, develops is attack capacities.
There are also military-political discords, which are reflected in the striving of countries to participate in various regional security systems. This fact, in its turn, creates additional obstacles for regional cooperation in defense sphere and from military point of view it defines different paths of integration. Nevertheless, our partners, who render assistance in defense sphere reformation, have found aspects, in which the positions of all three countries of the region coincide. For instance, peacekeeping, participation in international stability processes, struggle against international terror are priority issues for all three countries, and this allows our partners harmonizing reforms, held in those directions. I believe that in the foreseeable prospect, the circle of coinciding positions will be broadened, which will contribute to consolidation of the atmosphere of trust in the region.
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