BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 24. The EU mission is inappropriate and legally incapacitated, the political analyst and editor-in-chief of the Russia's National Defense magazine, Igor Korotchenko told Trend.
Korotchenko was commenting on the decision of the EU to send another mission to the Azerbaijan-Armenia border. According to him, decisions are made for a reason and are dictated by the current geopolitical situation in the world.
The EU has decided to establish another civilian European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border on January 23. The decision stated that the objective of the mission is to promote stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence on the ground, and ensure an environment conducive to EU-backed normalization efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On October 17, 2022, the EU Council of Foreign Ministers at its meeting decided to deploy nearly 40 EU observers in Armenia, alongside the border with Azerbaijan, to monitor, analyze, and report on the situation in the South Caucasus. The EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia (EUMCAP) completed its activities, as agreed in Prague, on 19 December 2022.
"The South Caucasus is an extremely important region, first in terms of resources - oil and gas - and, secondly, logistics, including transport logistics. France has always been interested in the region, but, of course, it must be linked to the very close relationship between the current political elites of France and Armenia," he said.
Korotchenko noted that the mission itself is inappropriate and legally incapacitated because the delimitation and demarcation of the state border between Azerbaijan and Armenia have not yet been carried out due to Yerevan's fault. Consequently, there is no such thing as Armenia's state border; it is a country with uncertain borders.
According to Korotchenko, Armenia, by inviting this mission and expanding its composition and term, expects to have a tool of pressure on Azerbaijan that will help it achieve advantageous political, economic, and military positions for itself. This also includes collaboration with France and the EU.
Korotchenko said that this mission is perceived extremely negatively in Russia.
"The mission's appearance in the region does not correspond to the spirit of Russian-Armenian relations. Yerevan de facto puts Moscow in front of what is happening without notifying it in advance and without conducting the necessary political consultations," he said.
"These are hostile actions on the part of Armenia against both Russia and the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization]. The appearance of this observation mission will contribute to the support of revanchism in Armenia, which fundamentally does not meet the national interests of Russia. The task of the West is to inflate a new conflict in order to block the normal functioning of the North-South transport corridor," he said.