Brussels’ “civilian mission” is nothing but a geopolitical project targeting Russia’s “ally,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said
FILE PHOTO: A border check point between Armenia and Azerbaijan near the village of Sotk, Armenia, is seen on June 18, 2021. © AFP / Karen Minasyan
A newly announced EU mission in Armenia supposedly aiming to “contribute to stability in the border areas” is nothing but a geopolitical project serving the West’s interests, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday. The mission would hardly improve the security situation in the region, it added.
“It is not the first time that we see the desire of the EU and the West… to gain a foothold in Armenia… at all costs,” the ministry said while calling Yerevan Moscow’s “ally.” Russia treats such moves as “geopolitical” actions that have nothing to do with the real peace process in the region.
The West “does everything to push Russia out of the region and weaken its historical role as a major security guarantor,” the statement added. The ministry also doubted the EU mission’s real ability to ensure peace and stability in the South Caucasus, pointing to the fact that a similar EU mission in the Serbian breakaway region of Kosovo failed to prevent a major flareup of tensions between Belgrade and Pristina last year.
Brussels also outright ignored public criticism of its initiative leveled by Baku. Last week, the head of the Azerbaijani parliament, Sakhiba Gafarova, warned that an EU mission could “impede the process of normalization” of relations between Yerevan and Baku.
The EU announced on Sunday that it would send what it called a “civilian mission” to Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan to “contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence and human security in conflict-affected areas,” and support the process of normalizing relations between the two neighbors.
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The mission would involve some 100 civilian staff members, including 50 “unarmed observers,” the EU said. According to Brussels, the mission, which was first announced by the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, in January, was established at Yerevan’s request.
Moscow insists that only trilateral agreements reached by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan could serve as a basis for normalizing the situation in the region. The agreements include the delimitation of the two neighbors’ borders, the opening of transportation routes, and the establishment of contacts between civilian groups, lawmakers, and religious leaders from the two countries. Russia stands ready to contribute to this process, the ministry added.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have a decades-old dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic-Armenian population that claims independence from Baku. In 2020, the two nations fought a 44-day war, which ended with a Russian-brokered truce.
In September 2022, tensions on the border between the two neighbors flared up again, leading to a series of border skirmishes that reportedly claimed the lives of dozens of soldiers on both sides.
