EU Mission creates illusion in Armenia of ensuring its own security [COMMENTARY]

By Azernews

Abbas Ganbay

The Western coalition, led by the USA, continues to put pressure on Azerbaijan, while Yerevan still remains silent on Baku's proposal of the 5th peace treaty document. Being tempted by the Indian arms, Armenia gained momentum to be militarised by France.

The West's plans in the Caucasus shifted to the southern part, where Azerbaijan, preventing insidious plans of the Western forces financed by Armenian lobbies, liberated its lands from the terrorist formations and clans occupying its territory. Huge stocks of weapons and ammunition belonging to the separatist clan, discovered by the Azerbaijani army on the territory of Garabagh after successful anti-terrorist measures, hint at the careful preparation of the separatist regime for military intervention in the territory of Azerbaijan.

Yerevan and Brussels have signed an agreement on the status of an EU observer mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and this comes at a time of periodic waves of criticism and condemnation from the United States of America in the run-up to the signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, with time, the real purpose of the mission group's arrival in the region will be revealed.

Speaking to AZERNEWS, Azerbaijani political scientist Farhad Mammadov said that there is an increase in the number of observers and, to some extent, an increase in their functions.

"We will find out in the near future what this consists of. But for Azerbaijan at the current stage, in the absence of a peace treaty, this activity of the EU mission on the border is negative, as it creates an illusion in Armenia of ensuring its own security and contributes to the activation of claims from the Armenian side on territorial boundaries," the expert said.

Mammadov noted that the fact that Armenia was forced to withdraw its armed forces from Garabagh after the anti-terrorist measures on September 19–20 does not mean that these territorial claims have disappeared; just looking at Yerevan's accusations in the International Criminal Court would be enough to understand the wishes of Armenia.

According to the expert, the activities of the EU mission are not transparent, the Armenian public is not informed about the mission's main activity in the country, and there is even a rumor that the Armenian authorities themselves are not fully aware of the work of the EU mission on their territory.

On the one hand, the EU wanted to pressure Azerbaijan by putting forward initiatives to impose sanctions on it; on the other hand, the EU is eyeing the energy, oil, and gas sectors of Azerbaijan. By creating observation points over the territory of Armenia, the EU, in fact, serves its own political agenda, which includes targetting Russian forces around the region. By creating an illusion of help for Yerevan, the EU is ready to accept them into its ranks and soon to extend its hand to the North Caucasus after completing its job with Armenia.

It is enough to say that the European Union and Western powers have been able to unilaterally pull Armenia into their own hands, just because Armenia made unusual maneuvers to quit CSTO, and tried to completely reject Russia despite the fact that its borders are still under Russian control.

According to political analyst Farhad Mammadov, this request comes from Armenia's claim that Azerbaijan in September 2022 allegedly violated the borders (Armenian-Azerbaijani) and invaded its territory, and in accordance with this, there was a request to the CSTO for assistance, to which the leaders of the body drew up a document on "assistance to Armenia," with which Yerevan itself disagreed.

Referring to Russia in this issue and the Armenian-Russian relations, the expert explained that this is another step to reduce Armenia's involvement in the CSTO and their expectations of the latter.

"Accordingly, we can assume that this is an element that, in the future, will be the basis for Armenia's withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty. Participation in the CSTO is a form of allied relations between Russia and Armenia, and if they take this step, it will have a negative impact on Armenian-Russian relations." the political analyst added.

Thus, Armenia entering into a mixed and complex political game related to the West and creating a serious gap between itself and Russia raises serious questions about the future of the region. Armenia may not be aware that it is playing the role of a platform for the West, but the reality is that whether it is a European Union mission, France or other forces are using it for their own purposes against Russia or to complicate the situation in the South Caucasus.

It remains a priority for Azerbaijan to pursue peace and prosperity both on its own territory and for all its neighbors living in the South Caucasus region. By playing "friends" with the West, Yerevan is missing and delaying the signing of a peace treaty, which, due to "whispering" by the West, affects the peace process in the region.