EU plans to send new mission to Armenia for at least two years

REGION  17 January 2023 - 11:07

The European Union intends to send a new observation mission to Armenia in a month, this time not for two months, but for at least two years.

The mission will begin on February 20. Already today, this issue will be discussed at a meeting of EU ambassadors, and the final decision will most likely be made next Monday [January 23] at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Armenian service of Radio Liberty.

Last week, this draft was adopted by the Committee on Politics and Security of the Council of Europe, and it was approved by the main structure dealing with observation missions – the Committee on Civil Affairs of Crisis Management on January 16.

Unlike the 40 people sent in October last year and deployed on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, European observers will patrol the entire territory of Armenia this time. Like the previous time, this time they will be unarmed.

The new mission will include about 200 European specialists. Their priority is to contribute to reducing incidents in the border zones of Armenia and the regions affected by the conflict, thereby creating favourable conditions for normalising Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Brussels expects that Yerevan will assume responsibility for managing contacts or incidents with Russian units, as well as provide the necessary immunity and privileges to observers.

Baku, unlike the previous one, did not approve of this mission. Moreover, a few days ago, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev criticized this initiative and said that the Europeans had deceived them.

Caliber.Az