{"id":185090,"date":"2025-09-17T21:49:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T17:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/?p=185090"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:01:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T07:01:15","slug":"military-readiness-in-peacetime-as-azerbaijan-boosts-defense-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/news\/185090\/","title":{"rendered":"Military readiness in peacetime as Azerbaijan boosts defense spending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Azerbaijan plans to allocate nearly 9 billion manats—equivalent to more than $5 billion—for defense and national security in its 2026 draft budget. The amount is 3.8% higher than the defense allocation in the 2025 budget.<\/p>\n

For comparison, Armenia’s entire state budget for 2025 is around $7 billion at current exchange rates.<\/p>\n

The increase raises questions: why is Azerbaijan expanding its military expenditures when it claims to have resolved all major issues with its longtime adversary, Armenia, and is officially pursuing peace?<\/p>\n