Vigen Sargsyan

Vigen Sargsyan (Armenian: Վիգեն Սարգսյան; born 10 May 1975) is an Armenian politician who served as the Defence Minister of Armenia from October 2016 until May 2018. He is currently serving as the deputy leader of the Republican Party of Armenia. He is not related to either the former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan or the former Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. He left the office after the Velvet Revolution led by opposition politician Nikol Pashinyan, who became Armenia's new prime minister. After leaving public office, Sargsyan assumed the role of Executive Director of Luys Foundation, created in 2009, and turned it into a public policy think-tank. In 2019 Sargsyan joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Sloan Fellow.
Biography.
Early life and education.
Vigen Sargsyan was born on 10 May 1975 in Yerevan into a family of medics. He graduated from the North-West Academy of Public Administration in Saint Petersburg in 1996, then graduated from Yerevan State University's Department of International Relations in 1999, earning a master's degree in "History of Diplomacy and International Relations". In 2000 he graduated from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University with a master's degree in law and diplomacy.
Political career.
From 1995 to 1998 he served as an assistant and adviser to the Speaker of National Assembly Babken Ararktsyan. After returning from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Sargsyan served in the Armenian Armed Forces from 2000 to 2003 as assistant to the Minister of Defence, then Serzh Sargsyan. He was an adjunct lecturer at the American University of Armenia from 2001 to 2011. After finishing military service in 2003, Sargsyan started working at the president's office as Assistant to second President Robert Kocharyan, with portfolio in foreign and national security policy, as well as diaspora affairs. When Serzh Sargsyan was sworn in as President in April 2008, Vigen Sargsyan was offered to stay and continued public service. On 27 January 2009, the then President Serzh Sargsyan promoted him to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff at the Office to the President. Two years later, in October 2011, Sargsyan became Serzh Sargsyan's Chief of Staff, a position he held until 2016. Vigen Sargsyan led the Republican Party’s electoral list in parliamentary elections in May 2017.
Minister of Defence.
On 3 October 2016 Sargsyan was appointed Minister of Defence by President Serzh Sargsyan, succeeding Seyran Ohanyan. Soon after being appointed, Sargsyan announced that his efforts as Defence Minister would be based around the "nation-army" concept, which he described as the idea that "all the governmental bodies, civilians and anybody else must precisely realize their role in the defense of the country." The term, though frequently discussed during Sargsyan's ministry, fell out of use after he left the post in May 2018. In March 2018, the Ministry of Defense published a document titled the "Seven Year Army Modernization Plan", which envisaged a number of reforms in the sphere of defence. He was reappointed to the same position by President Armen Sarkissian in 2018. Sargsyan resigned on 8 May 2018 following the election of Nikol Pashinyan as the Prime Minister of Armenia. Sargsyan said that he would only continue to act as Defence Minister until a new minister is appointed, and warned the new authorities of potential mistakes in foreign policy, particularly related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He served as Acting Defence Minister until 12 May when David Tonoyan was appointed to the position.
2018 Parliamentary elections.
Sargsyan was named the Republican Party's first deputy chairman in November 2018, and led the Republican Party’s electoral list in the 2018 December snap parliamentary elections. On 28 November, Sargsyan invited Pashinyan to take part in a live TV debate, but the proposal was turned down by Pashinyan. As a result of the elections, the Republican Party failed to win any seats in parliament for the first time in its history.
Legal Issues and opposition politician.
On 25 September 2019, the Investigative Committee of Armenia announced that Vigen Sargsyan had been charged with two counts of abuse of power. It was alleged that Sargsyan violated regulations for the allotment of state-funded housing while serving as Defence Minister. Sargsyan, who was residing in the United States at the time, rejected the accusations as politically motivated.
In November 2020, after the defeat of the Armenian side in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Sargsyan joined a number of other public figures calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Personal life.
He is married and has three daughters. He is fluent in Russian and English, apart from his native Armenian.