EU Launches 2-Year Civilian Mission In Armenia To Boost Border Security - Council Of EU

Muhammad Irfan Published February 20, 2023 | 06:52 PM

The European Union has launched a EU civilian mission in Armenia (EUMA) with a two-year mandate to promote stability in the country's border regions, creating conditions for normalizing relations with Azerbaijan, the Council of the EU said Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2023) The European Union has launched a EU civilian mission in Armenia (EUMA) with a two-year mandate to promote stability in the country's border regions, creating conditions for normalizing relations with Azerbaijan, the Council of the EU said Monday.

"The European Union is launching today the EU civilian mission in Armenia (EU Mission in Armenia / EUMA) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)," the statement read.

The mission consisting of nearly 100 exclusively civilian personnel, including about 50 unarmed observers, was established by the Council on January 23, 2023, on the invitation of the Armenian government, according to the statement.

"Through its deployment on the Armenian side of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, the objectives are to contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence and human security in conflict affected areas, and ensure an environment conducive to the normalisation efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan supported by the EU," the Council added.

The Armenian town of Yeghegnadzor in the Vayots Dzor province is set to host the operational headquarters of this neutral and non-executive EU mission, the statement read.

In late December 2022, the Armenian Foreign Ministry invited the EU to deploy a civilian CSDP mission in Armenia. The mission was preceded by an EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia, which had deployed EU observers from the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia from October 20 to December 19, 2022.