Armenia: Parliament Committee Rejects Bill to Raise Military Conscription Age

The Armenian parliament’s Standing Committee on Defense and Security has rejected proposed amendments regarding military service, noting that some of the proposals are unconstitutional.

Ruling Civil Contract party MP Hayk Sargsyan, claiming that the number of enlistments has been declining over the years and will continue to fall, presented a bill that would raise the conscription age from twenty-seven, criminalize refusal to undergo a medical examination as a form of draft evasion, and establish a high fee for renouncing citizenship.

See: Armenia’s Military Service Payment Exemption Scheme: Potential Repatriates Voice Concerns

Amendments to  the Law On Military Service and Status of Servicemen, approved by the government in February of this year, would allow citizens aged 27-37 who have not completed compulsory military service to be exempted from criminal liability by choosing the duration of their service and the option of paying for it.

Another major revision already implemented was to cut military service from two years to eighteen months as of 2026.

Armenian Deputy Minister of Defense Arman Sargsyan countered Hayk Sargsyan’s claims of a manpower shortage in the military by noting that because of the above revisions, the number of conscripts in the period from 2022 to 2026 increased by 25 percent compared to the 2022 conscription.

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