European MP wants border mission in Armenia to be permanent

Member of the European Parliament Fabio Massimo Castaldo hopes that the mission of EU observers on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border will be permanent.

He revealed his thoughts at a press conference in Yerevan on November 3, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Armenian media.

“We hope that this mission will be permanent as long as there is a need for observer monitoring. I urge to increase the number of observers in order to be sure that on any part of the border that is at risk, there is an opportunity to provide a report on what is happening,” Castaldo said.

A mission of 40 EU observers is currently in Armenia for a period of two months.

Earlier on October 17, at a meeting in Luxembourg, the EU Foreign Ministers officially approved the dispatch of 40 observers to Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan. The observers arrived in the region and started working on October 20. The mission will last two months.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi, have repeatedly made it clear that they oppose the presence of external forces in the region, hinting at the introduction of an EU monitoring mission to Armenia to monitor the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.