The new civilian mission established by the European Council on Monday to contribute to stability along the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia must not obstruct normalization between the two ex-Soviet nations, Baku said on Tuesday.
"We remain of the firm position that such an engagement must not be exploited for derailing the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, including in the context of border delimitation process that should be carried out exclusively on a bilateral basis," a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry read.
The statement said it must be ensured that the deployment of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) takes into account the legitimate interests of Azerbaijan. "The Azerbaijani side expects that in the process of deliberations on the EU mission, utmost care will be exercised to draw necessary lessons from the past experience," the statement further said.
Baku looks positively at the EU engagement in Armenia as it would help the normalization process, but serious deviations were made from agreements during discussions in Prague last October following "biased approaches taken by some EU member states," the statement said. "This, in turn, affected the overall trust as regards to the credibility and transparency of decision-making within the EU," it read.
Azerbaijan has communicated to EU representatives that the bloc's engagement in Armenia through a mission must not "serve as a pretext for Armenia to evade" its commitments.
The mission was launched on Monday. "The objective of the Mission is to contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence on the ground, and ensure an environment conducive to normalization efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan supported by the EU," the council said in a statement.
In response to Armenia's request, the EUMA will conduct routine patrols and report on the situation, as well as contribute to mediation efforts in the framework of a process led by European Council President Charles Michel.
The mission will have an initial mandate of two years and its operational headquarters will be in Armenia, according to the statement. Armenia's foreign minister welcomed the move, saying the mission "will contribute to the peace, stability and security of the region." Ararat Mirzoyan tweeted, "We will readily cooperate with the mission and support its activities."
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Yerevan against the deployment of a "civil monitoring mission" on the border with Azerbaijan without Baku's consent. "The Armenian side prefers to negotiate with the EU so that a civilian observer mission can be stationed there (in Karabakh) on a long-term basis. This is the border with Azerbaijan, so if this mission unfolds without the consent of Azerbaijan, it may simply be counterproductive. Instead of building trust at the border, it can create additional irritants," Lavrov said.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements. During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years. The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia. However, the cease-fire has been broken several times since then.
