By Arshaluys Barseghyan
Azerbaijan has demanded the withdrawal of the EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia and for “restrictions” to be placed on the Armenian armed forces.
On August 31, Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev told Politico that a new agreement on their joint border commission ‘should be seen as sufficient for the withdrawal of the EU contingent,” adding that progress had been made in talks with Armenia.
The statement came a day after the two sides announced they had agreed details of how the border delimitation commission would work to determine the remainder of their shared border. The agreement still needs to be ratified. Both sides had previously agreed to reach this stage in the process by 1 July.
The EU deployed a civilian observer mission to the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan in February 2023 at Armenia’s request, and after several incursions by Azerbaijani forces that led to swathes of Armenian territory being occupied. Both Russia and Azerbaijan have criticised the mission since its deployment.
In February Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry accused the mission of becoming “an agent of “binoculars diplomacy” facilitating the visits of different European officials and unofficial delegations to the border areas”. They added that such visits “without exception, are used for disseminating anti-Azerbaijani hate and replicating unfounded Azerbaijan-phobia”.
