Cambodia marks New Year with unity message amid challenges

PHNOM PENH, April 17, 2026 (KPT) – Cambodia celebrated the three-day Khmer New Year festival nationwide with “joy and unity,” government spokesperson Pen Bona said Friday.

He said festivities followed Buddhist traditions and ancestral customs, stressing that cultural heritage once nearly eradicated under the Khmer Rouge has been preserved and will continue under the Cambodian People’s Party.

Bona added that Cambodians at home and abroad marked the New Year together in a spirit of national unity, while safeguarding what he described as the government’s top priority: territorial integrity and the population.

In a separate message, Prime Minister Hun Manet acknowledged “unprecedented and difficult challenges” over the past year, citing impacts on national security and the socio-economic situation.

He urged citizens to turn “difficulties into experience” and “obstacles into opportunities,” reaffirming commitments to development, social harmony and public welfare.

Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet said Cambodia must strengthen self-reliance in key sectors to build resilience against future crises, while upholding the constitution and monarchy under the national motto “Nation, Religion, King.”

He thanked the armed forces for defending sovereignty and territorial integrity, praising unity among Cambodians domestically and overseas.

He called on citizens and institutions to remain united, stressing that protecting territorial integrity and public wellbeing would remain the government’s highest priority.

The prime minister added that Cambodia reserved the right to defend itself “by all means” in line with international law.