ArmInfo.RA Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan received the EU technical assessment mission led by Marcin Wydra. Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin also took part in the meeting.
According to the press service of the RA Ministry of Defense, during the meeting, the results of the activities of the EU monitoring mission, which ended on December 19, 2022, were summed up. The parties noted with satisfaction the effective cooperation between the mission and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, expressing the hope that efficiency will be maintained during the activities of the new mission.
Suren Papikyan presented the latest regional developments, in particular, he spoke about the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan since December 12 and the serious humanitarian challenges that arose as a result of these actions.
The Minister of Defense highly appreciated the participation of the EU in strengthening peace and stability in the region, especially pointing out the important role of the monitoring missions, and expressed Ministry's readiness to continue to support the new EU monitoring mission in every possible way.
It should be noted that on December 20, 2022, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, made a statement in which he noted that on December 19, the EU monitoring group in Armenia (EUMCAP), launched in October, completed its mandate. Borrell recalled that the mission was deployed on October 20 on the basis of an agreement between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Council of Europe and France in order to monitor, analyze and report on the situation on the ground The Council, in consultation with the Armenian authorities, decided that the existing EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM in Georgia) would send a temporary planning assistance team to Armenia to raise EU awareness of the security situation and to contribute to the planning and preparation of a possible civilian mission under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) in the country.