Official Moscow stepped up its criticism of the European Union’s Monitoring Mission in Armenia, calling it “anti-Azerbaijani, anti-Russian and anti-Iranian.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Russia regularly addresses the “negative attitude and confrontational nature” of the EU mission along the Armenian border with Azerbaijan.
“The anti-Azerbaijani, anti-Russian, anti-Iranian objectives of this mission are obvious. Furthermore, NATO countries also are joining it. It is obvious that this is a geopolitical plan being used in order to strengthen the presence of the collective West in the region. For us, its objectives are clear: destabilization of the situation and its use against the peoples of the South Caucasus region,” Zakharova said, in response to question regarding the possible extension of the EU mission for another two years.
The spokesperson added that nothing should be expected from the EU monitoring mission except for the destabilization of the military and political situation, and turning the South Caucasus into an arena of geopolitical competition.
“The EU mission is a foreign body for the South Caucasus, and all urgent problems facing the region must be solved through collective efforts without external interference,” said Zakharova.
She also echoed Azerbaijan’s discontent with the mission, stressing that the decision to deploy the EU monitoring mission in Armenia was made without agreeing it with Baku.
“Why is the opinion of a regional player, who is not an external observer and who is interested in stability, not taken into account?” Zakharova asked, clearly defending Baku’s expressed concerns regarding the mission.
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan recently said that the EU Mission in Armenia must end, and by using similar terminology as Moscow, said that a peace treaty with Armenia would be difficult to sign without the removal of the observers from the Armenia border.
Zakharova also said that the EU is using Armenia “as a tool to spread its influence and carries out intelligence activities in the region under the guise of its monitoring mission.”
