Our dear neighbors. The European Union will send a “civilian mission” to Armenia, along the border with Azerbaijan, to “build trust” between the two countries and contribute to the demarcation of borders, stakeholders announced on Friday. outcome of a quadripartite meeting with France in Prague.
“The mission will begin in October for a maximum duration of two months. The purpose of this mission is to build trust and, through its reports, to contribute to the boundary delimitation commissions,” reads a joint statement. “Armenia has agreed to facilitate the establishment of (this) mission” and “Azerbaijan has agreed to cooperate with this mission as far as it is concerned”.
A meeting by the end of the month
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French Head of State Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel met late Thursday-Friday on the sidelines of the Community’s first summit European policy in Prague.
“Armenia and Azerbaijan have confirmed their attachment to the United Nations Charter and to the Alma Ata Declaration of 1991, by which they mutually recognize their territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the joint declaration underlines. A basis for the work of boundary commissions. “The next meeting of the commissions (will) take place in Brussels by the end of October”, it is specified.
In September, at least 286 people were killed in clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the worst fighting between these two Caucasian neighbors since their 2020 war. The dispute concerns the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave populated by Armenians in Azerbaijan, but also on the delimitation of the borders between the two countries.