ArmInfo. The EU mission is being deployed on the territory of Armenia along the border with Azerbaijan without prejudice to the OSCE mission, around which discussions are also underway.
Former Ambassador of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacote wrote about this on his Facebook page. In this vein, the diplomat recalled that on October 17, the EU Council decided to send up to 40 EU experts to Armenia to monitor the international border with Azerbaijan in order to monitor, analyze and provide information on the current situation on this border. " This decision follows the quadrilateral meeting between President Aliyev, Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Emmanuel Macron and President Charles Michel held on October 6 in Prague.
By letter received by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on 22 September 2022, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia invited the EU to deploy a civilian CSDP Mission in Armenia," the diplomat stated. According to him, In order to ensure a swift deployment of the EU monitoring capacity, it was decided that the monitoring experts will be temporarily deployed from the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia). The EUMM is taking operational steps so that its monitoring capacity in Georgia is not impacted.
" The objective of this mission is to contribute to reporting on the situation along the border, in the context of the discussions Armenia and Azerbaijan, on its delimitation and demarcation Major progress was reached in Prague when Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed their commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and the Alma Ata 1991 Declaration through which both recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. On this occasion, the two States confirmed that the Alma Ata declaration of 1991 would be a basis for the work of the border delimitation commissions and that the next meeting of the border commissions would take place in Brussels by the end of October," Lacote added. In this vein, he stressed that the EU mission is deployed without prejudice to an OSCE mission, which is also under discussion.
"It is important not to confuse this mission with an intervention mission that requires the consent of both parties or a UN mandate; with a military mission, since the defense of the territory of Armenia is primarily the responsibility of the armed forces of this country and the states and organizations with which the RA has defense agreements.
"It is important not to confuse this mission with: - an interposition mission, which requires an agreement from both parties or a mandate from the United Nations - a military mission, the protection of the Armenian territory being primarily the responsibility of the armed forces of this country and the States and organizations with which Armenia has concluded defense agreements.
The presence of the European Union on the ground will contribute to ensure better fact finding and better consideration by the entire international community of the security issues prevailing in the region.
In Parliament, Mrs. Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, indicated that France: - stands in solidarity with Armenia in the face of violations of its territorial integrity - calls for the return of Azerbaijani forces to their initial positions - supports the resumption of negotiations between the two countries.
" At each stage of the setting up of this mission, France has been on the initiative alongside the European institutions," Lacote summed up.