BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 19. The EU mission in Armenia is turning into a NATO mission, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during an interview with Russian media, Trend reports.
"At the 2022 Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) conference in Armenia, all parties, including the Armenian minister, signed a document outlining increased weapons transfers to Armenia, exercises, and mission deployment. Despite Prime Minister Pashinyan's claim of a lack of consensus, Armenian society demonstrated unanimity for the EU mission, initially pledged for two months but now extended indefinitely, with Canadian and other NATO countries' participation, transforming it from an EU mission to a NATO one," he said.
To note, the EU monitoring mission in Armenia was initiated on January 23, 2023. Initially, there were 100 employees. However, on December 11, the same year, it was decided to expand the number to 209 people.
In April, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed the importance of the EU surveillance mission, claiming it provides "objective" information regarding the border situation with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan also recommended extending the mission's mandate.
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