The group will conduct monitoring along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border
On October 17, the European Union announced that it will send about 40 monitoring experts along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border to monitor, analyze and report on the situation in the region.
It was noted that the decision was taken after a quadrilateral meeting in Prague on October 6, where the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, met at the invitation of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
“The goal is to help restore peace and security in the region, strengthen trust and delimit the international border between the two states,” the EU said.
“The sending of up to 40 European Union observers to the international border of Armenia with Azerbaijan is aimed at strengthening confidence, stabilizing the situation that threatens life and endangers the conflict resolution process. This is once again proof of the European Union’s full commitment to the achievement of lasting peace in the South Caucasus”, stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Union, Joseph Borrell.
In order to ensure flexible placement of European Union observers, it was decided to temporarily send the monitoring staff from the European Union observer mission in Georgia.
At the same time, it was emphasized that the mission will be temporary and will not last more than two months.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated at the Astana meeting that the decision was initially made to send a 40-member civilian mission of the European Union to Prague.
“Later it became known to us that their number will be 50 people. They will be there for at least two months. The purpose of this mission, as we have seen, is to assist the parties in drawing borders and defining issues related to delimitation. That’s why we agreed to it”, shared Aliyev.
According to the Azerbaijani President, there were attempts to send this mission to Azerbaijan, but these attempts were rejected by the government. Therefore, it was agreed that the mission will be located on the territory of Armenia, in the area of responsibility of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
