Austria is considering participating in the peacekeeping mission.
The European Union is sending around 100 border monitors to keep the peace in Armenia. The foreign ministers of the 27 member countries decided on Monday in Brussels to create a new civilian mission called EUMA (Mission of the European Union in Armenia), as announced by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. According to information from people close to them, the specialists will be sent to the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, on the border with Azerbaijan, in the coming weeks.
The mission, initially scheduled for two years, aims to contribute to stability in the border area and build trust between the two hostile countries. Borrell spoke of a “new phase in EU engagement in the South Caucasus”. The aim is “sustainable peace in the region”.
“We are very supportive of this,” Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) said ahead of the meeting. It is important that the EU commits to this, he stressed. The solution to the crisis must not be left to Moscow. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Austrian participation in the mission “is foreseen in any case”.
Decline of Russian influence
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at loggerheads over Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is estimated that around 30,000 people died. Fighting in 2020 that left more than 6,500 dead ended in a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal. Armenia had to give up large areas.
According to information from people around him, Borrell does not expect the mission to further escalate tensions with Russia. According to experts, Moscow’s influence in the South Caucasus is waning because of the aggressive war in Ukraine.
According to Brussels, the Armenian government asked for the EU mission. In October, the Europeans sent around 40 specialists to the border area for an initial period of two months.
(APA/AFP)