EU to deploy 40 monitoring experts along Azerbaijan-Armenia border

Europe, News October 18, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

European Union decided to deploy 40 monitoring experts along the Armenian side of the international border with Azerbaijan, the European Council announced on October 17, 2022.

The main objective of EU monitoring experts would be to monitor, analyze, and report on the situation in the region, the European Council statement highlighted.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that “The EU’s deployment of up to 40 EU monitoring experts along Armenia’s international border with Azerbaijan will aim to build confidence to the unstable a situation that is putting lives at risk and jeopardizes the conflict resolution process.”

“This is another proof of the EU’s full commitment to contributing to the ultimate goal of achieving sustainable peace in the South Caucasus,” Borrell added.

According to the European Council’s press release, “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 European Council statement stressed that the decision to set up a monitoring mission to the region was followed by a successful meeting between the head of the European Council and the leaders of France, Armenia, and Azerbaijan in Prague on October 6.

*^{Leaders of 44 countries gather for the European Political Community summit in Prague, the Czech Republic on October 6, 2022. (Image Credit: Twitter/@sandumaiamd)}*

The statement added that the EU monitoring mission would facilitate “the restoration of peace and security in the area, the building of confidence, and the delimitation of the international border between the two states.”

On October 6, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron during the European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Prague, the Czech Republic.

During the EPC summit, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaïdjan 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. Both countries also confirmed that it would be a basis for the work of the border delimitation commissions.

Earlier on September 13, fighting between the border forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia resulted in the death of more than 100 soldiers from sides. Soon after the clashes, Russia was the first country to respond to the recent conflict and came forward to mediate between the two ex-Soviet republics. Kremlin claimed that Russian intervention and a call between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin brokered a ceasefire between the two sides. Later on, the U.S. and EU mediated to resolve volatile issues in the Caucasus region which resulted in the meeting of top diplomats from Azerbaijan and Armenia in Geneva on October 3, 2022.