The Armenian Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed Canada's initiative to join the European Union's observer mission on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2023) The Armenian Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed Canada's initiative to join the European Union's observer mission on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan.
"We welcome the initiative of Canada to become part of (the EU Mission) in Armenia & view it as an important contribution for the Mission's role in enhancing stability & peace in the South Caucasus region," the ministry tweeted.
In early May, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the EU observer mission in Armenia does not guarantee the country's security but is still important, as it draws the attention of the international community to the problems in the region.
On February 20, the EU announced the launch of its civilian mission on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The stated purpose of the mission is to promote stability and facilitate conditions conducive to the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The mission has a total of 100 personnel, including some 50 unarmed observers.
The decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh flared up in September 2020, marking the worst escalation since the 1990s. Hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered trilateral ceasefire declaration signed in November 2020. The two former Soviet states agreed to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region. Since then, there have been occasional clashes along the border.
In 2022, Yerevan and Baku, mediated by Russia, the United States and the European Union, began discussing a future peace treaty. In May 2023, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Yerevan was ready to recognize Azerbaijan's 86,600-square-kilometer (33,430-square-mile) territorial integrity, which includes Nagorno-Karabakh. If Armenia does not change its position on the issue, Baku and Yerevan could sign a peace treaty in the near future, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.
