Baku Demands End to EU Border Mission in Armenia

BAKU — The Azerbaijani government demanded on Thursday the withdrawal of European Union monitors deployed along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan with the aim of preventing or minimizing ceasefire violations there.

It also dismissed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s assurances that the Armenian constitution does not contain territorial claims to Azerbaijan.

“We do not see the need for the deployment of any EU mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” said a senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. “The activities of this mission must end.”

Baku has been very critical of the EU mission ever since its launch in February 2023. In October this year, a top Azerbaijani general accused it of “escalating the situation in the South Caucasus.” The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reacted angrily after Poland’s President Andrzej Duda met with some of the EU monitors and joined them on a border patrol during a visit to Armenia late last month.

Armenian officials have repeatedly praised the work of the monitors. The EU decided late last year to increase their number from 138 to 209. Armenian officials have repeatedly described the mission as a success.

Speaking shortly before Duda’s trip, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed reports that Baku is demanding the withdrawal of the EU monitors during ongoing negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. He said the Armenian side has made a “counterproposal” to remove them from only demarcated border sections.

The mission’s two-year mandate ends in February 2025. It is still not clear whether Yerevan will ask the EU to extend it.