The EU Mission in Armenia is regularly targeted by Moscow

The mission of the European Union in Armenia is regularly criticized by various Russian officials. The Russian side often spreads false information about the activities of the mission.

On October 7, Assistant to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov, referring to the work on the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stated that not all participants in the negotiation process between Baku and Yerevan welcome the fact of the expansion of the EU mission in Armenia.

“The activity of the EU mission in Armenia is not welcomed. I regret to note that this mission is expanding. In June, it involved 138 personnel, currently their number is 210. And it is planned that their number will be brought up to 600. One can only imagine what they are doing there,” said Ushakov.

The European Council expanded its observation mission in Armenia as early as December 2023. In particular, after the meeting of EU foreign ministers on December 11 last year, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell announced that the European Union decided to increase the number of patrols of the monitoring mission in Armenia from 138 to 209.

“Today the Foreign Affairs Council agreed to strengthen our civilian mission in Armenia, 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,” Borel said.

There is no information about further expansion of the mission.

Even before Ushakov’s announcement, on October 4, Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Service Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation, announced during the meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies of the CIS countries that the West is trying to achieve the deployment of its own “peacekeeping” troops in the region under the auspices of NATO, in order to contribute to the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Baku.

“The potential nature of such peacekeeping is evidenced by the fact that the so-called “independent civilian monitoring mission” of the EU, deployed on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, conducts intelligence activities for a specific NATO country and against Russia and our partners,” Bortnikov added.  

Peter Stano, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, did not leave Bortnikov’s statement unanswered. “These comments are full of nonsense and the usual lies and manipulations typical for the Russian regime that tries to cover its repeated failures to deliver on its promises and commitments to Armenia,” he said.

Speaking about the mission, Stano emphasized that the EU mission in Armenia “was established at the request of the Armenian authorities, and it operates only on the Armenian side of the internationally recognized bilateral border.“

Other Russian officials also expressed their indignation regarding the EU observation mission stationed in Armenia (1 2 3).

By the way, Azerbaijan also regularly targets the EU mission in Armenia.

The EU mission in Armenia was established by the decision of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on January 23, 2023, in response to the official request of the RA authorities in December 2022 to deploy a full-fledged EU civilian mission on the ground. The deployment of the mission follows the successful experience of the EU Monitoring Capacity  to Armenia deployed along the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Armenian side from 20 October 2022 to 19 December 2022. The mission (EUMA) was launched by the decision of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on February 20, 2023. On the same day, February 20, 2023, the EUMA General Headquarters was officially opened in Yeghegnadzor and the initial operational potential was deployed. The mandate of the EU Mission in Armenia is for a period of two years, which can be revised.

The EU mission in Armenia is a civilian mission, staffed exclusively by non-armed patrol from EU member states and managed by the EU CPCC Headquarters in Brussels. The entire command staff is civilian. The members of the mission are appointed by the decision of each EU member state, from among the experts of the relevant ministries and agencies.

On November 20, 2023, the Republic of Armenia and the European Union signed the Agreement on the Status of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA). The RA National Assembly ratified the agreement on March 20 of this year.

Syuzanna Hambardzumyan