In announcing the end of the European Union’s monitoring mission along the Armenian border, the group’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that the E.U. was beginning a new phase of engagement in the South Caucasus.
“The EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia (EUMCAP), launched in October, completes its mandate today,” Borrell said in a statement on Monday.
“The deployment of 40 European monitoring experts has proved to be effective and contributed to building confidence in an unstable situation. Today we start a new phase in the EU’s engagement in the South Caucasus, with a transitional team that will prepare the ground for a possible longer term EU mission in Armenia, with the ultimate goal of contributing to sustainable peace in the region,” Borrell said.
“Against this background, the Council – in agreement with Armenia’s authorities – decided that the existing EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia) will deploy a transitional planning assistance team in Armenia to enhance the EU’s awareness of the security situation, and contribute to the planning and preparation of a possible civilian CSDP mission in the country.
The transitional planning assistance team is also expected to support the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in the EU-facilitated normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” explained Borrell.
The decision to send a monitoring mission to Armenia stemmed from a meeting between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan on October 6 in Prague, where the president of France and the European Council, Emmanuel Macron and Charles Michel mediated talks.
In the Czech capital, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan “confirmed their commitment to the UN Charter and to the CIS Declaration agreed in Alma-Ata on December 21, 1991, in which both states recognize each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
They confirmed it would be a basis for the work of their respective border delimitation commissions, whose last meeting took place in Brussels on November 3, 2022,” said the E.U. statement, explaining that on October 17, the European Council decided to send a monitoring mission to Armenia.
Source : Asbarez
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