ArmInfo.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on March 2 in Berlin at a joint press conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz thanked his German counterpart for his efforts to send a civil EU mission to Armenia.
<I would like to thank the German government for supporting the decision to re-deploy a long-term EU civilian mission in Armenia and express confidence that this mission will have a significant impact on establishing peace and security in the region. I personally thank Chancellor Scholz, because I know that his participation in this decision is great>, said the head of the Armenian Cabinet.
It is planned to sign an agreement regulating the presence of the EU civil mission in Armenia in the near future, the RA Prime Minister said. <Now the deployment of the EU monitoring mission is regulated by mutual official letters. But we also have an agreement that the agreement governing this presence and mission should be discussed, agreed upon and signed. And I also think that we may sign a document regulating the presence of the monitoring mission in the near future, when we hold negotiations and come to a common agreement >, Pashinyan said.
Touching upon the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, the head of the RA Cabinet of Ministers stated that by doing so, Baku grossly violates its obligations as part of the statement dated November 9, 2020. This is also part of a large-scale and systematized policy of ethnic cleansing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, he said.
In this vein, the Prime Minister considers it extremely important to send the international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh in order to provide more comprehensive information to the international community.
On February 22 the International Court of Justice issued a decision against Azerbaijan, by which Azerbaijan was obliged to take all necessary measures to ensure the free movement of people, vehicles and goods in both directions along the Lachin Corridor, Pashinyan urged international partners to take effective steps to ensure the immediate implementation of the court decision by Azerbaijan.
On January 23 this year, the Council of the EU has agreed to form a new European Union civilian mission in Armenia (EUMA) within the framework of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). As stated in the EU message, the aim of the Mission is to promote stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence on the ground and provide an environment conducive to EU-supported efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The EU civil mission in Armenia includes up to 100 specialists. More than 8 million euros have been allocated for the first four months of the Mission's work. EUMA's initial mandate will be for two years and its operational headquarters will be located in Armenia. The Civil Operations Commander will be Stefano Tomat, Managing Director of the EEAS Civil Planning and Conduct (CPCC) Division. February 20 this year The European Union has deployed a new civilian mission to monitor the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Its becoming included, including 8 French gendarmes and 15 police officers from Germany. The headquarters of the mission is located in Yeghegnadzor.