Russian spokeswoman: EU mission in Armenia launched without Azerbaijan's consent

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that the EU mission in Armenia was launched without Azerbaijan's consent.

"From the very beginning, the EU has acted very non-transparently. The deployment of the EU presence in the territory of Armenia was realized hastily, under serious pressure of Brussels. The EU members practically imposed their presence on Armenia. The mission aimed at assisting in the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan was launched unilaterally, on a non-consensual basis, without the consent of the Azerbaijani side and other regional players and without proper reporting," she said while answering a media question about the opening of three operational centres of the EU observer mission in Armenia, Caliber.Az reports quoting the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In her words, this confirms the real reason behind the EU policy in the region "whose main goal is to push Russia out of Transcaucasia and turn the South Caucasus into an arena of geopolitical confrontation to the detriment of the native interests of the people living there.

Zakharova says that increasing the number of EU "observer" centres in Armenia has nothing to do with the task of establishing stability and peace between Baku and Yerevan.

"The unaccountability of the EU mission to the international community and, above all, to Azerbaijan and Armenia, reinforces suspicions of a hidden agenda in the EU's activities 'on the ground,' the presence of a 'second bottom' in the mandate of the mission under the cover of its 'civilian' nature. Given all the circumstances, we are not the only ones who have numerous reasonable questions about the real motives of the European Union's actions in the region," said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"We still believe that the continuing expansion of the EU extra-regional factor in the Transcaucasus, behind which the anti-Russian objectives of the US and NATO are seen, can only aggravate the existing contradictions here," Zakharova said.

"Apparently, this is why certain politicians from FRG are trying to convince the public that the German policemen and French gendarmes sent to Armenia "are not occupiers," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman underlined.

According to her, there is no "added value" from the dubious activity of EU "experts" near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. "They are all the more incapable of ensuring security and observing the ceasefire agreements reached with the crucial role of Russian mediation. The presence of a Russian peacekeeping contingent remains a real guarantee of peace in the region," Zakharova added.

"The development of the situation once again proves that the most sustainable and long-term basis for the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization and the overall recovery of the situation in the Transcaucasus is the consistent implementation of the trilateral agreements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, January 11, November 26, 2021, and October 31, 2022, including the unblocking of all transport and economic relations, delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the agreement on parameters of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Russia will continue to help the parties to ensure security and stability in the region," Zakharova said.

The European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) is a European Union Common Security and Defence Policy civilian deployment on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

The mission was announced on 23 January 2023 to build upon the work of two previous EU deployments in Armenia, the European Union Monitoring Capacity to Armenia and the EU Planning Assistance Team in Armenia following the Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis. The mission was formally launched on 20 February 2023.

The objective of the mission is to contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence on the ground, conduct active patrolling and reporting, and to support normalization efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan led by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

EUMA was defined in January 2023 to have an initial mandate of 2 years with the possibility of extension, and its operational headquarters is based within Armenia. It was expected that around 103 EU personnel would be deployed. One of the tasks of the EUMA is to conduct border patrols along the entire length of Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, including along the Nakhchivan exclave.