France has called for an extension of a European Union monitoring mission along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The two-month mission began on October 20.
France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told the French parliament on Tuesday that the mission has helped in curbing hostilities along the border.
“Through the monitoring of the border, this mission has really limited the danger of escalation,” Colonna told lawmakers, acknowledging that tension continue to run high on the border.
“This presence should continue as long as it is needed,” Colonna added. “This is our belief. This is also … the desire of the Armenians.”
Colonna also reaffirmed France’s and the EU’s support for Armenia and vowed to make constant efforts for the establishment of peace in the region.
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday was quick to welcome the extension of the mission.
“The Republic of Armenia is interested in the presence of observation missions of international institutions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” Mizoyan told lawmakers on Wednesday.
“We applied to various organizations on this issue—the CSTO, the OSCE, the EU. During this period, a mission from the OSCE also arrived and it has already ended. At the moment, the work of the EU observation mission is still ongoing, the period has not ended. It will end on December 19 or 20,” explained Mirzoyan.
The foreign minister strongly emphasized the role of the EU observation mission within the context of other international processes. In his opinion, only the presence of neutral observers and the monitoring mission will have preventive effects on the further aggravation of the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
