ArmInfo."We started the day with informal exchanges with Foreign Minister of Armenia, Mr [Ararat] Mirzoyan," Josep Borrel, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated at following the Eastern Partnership Foreign Affairs Ministerial meeting.
You know that we are currently working on strengthening our relations with Armenia.
I see that Armenia clearly sees the benefits of increasing cooperation with us, and we are ready to respond positively.
As a first step of this increasing cooperation, today the Foreign Affairs Council agreed to strengthen our civilian [CSDP] mission in Armenia (EUMA), increasing our presence on the ground from 138 staff to 209. This is an important increase of the size of the mission, and this is a way of increasing the stability of Armenia's international border with Azerbaijan.
We believe that there is a historic chance to achieve peace in the region. It is an opportunity. We are committed to continue our support to these efforts - by working together with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. The fact that we have decided to increase by such an important number our staff on this mission shows our clear commitment to the stability in the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and [is] an important contribution to the peace efforts.
"Good exchange of views with Ararat Mirzoyan and EU Foreign Ministers on concrete ways to enhance EU-Armenia relations plus further strengthen Armenia's democratic path
"We also reiterated full EU support to the peace process and commitment to further facilitate the normalisation process," Borrel wrote on his X account.