Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed on the night of Thursday 6 to Friday 7 October to the establishment of an EU civilian mission along the border between their countries.
“Armenia has agreed to facilitate the establishment of an EU civilian mission along the border with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has agreed to cooperate with this mission as far as it is concerned”, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel - who facilitated the talks - announced in a joint statement issued after a “long quadrilateral”, according to Macron.
The mission will start in October for a maximum of 2 months and will aim to build confidence and, through its reports, contribute to the border delimitation commissions. European External Action Service spokesman Peter Stano told EUROPE that EEAS experts are now working on the concrete preparation of the mission.
At the meeting, the Caucasian leaders also confirmed their commitment to the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration, which mutually recognises their territorial integrity and sovereignty, adding that it would serve as the basis for the work of the border commissions. According to them, the next meeting of the commissions will take place in Brussels by the end of October.
Speaking in the European Parliament on Tuesday 4 October, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell explained that Baku had opposed an arbitration mission to the border and had hoped for a meeting of the border commissions before the end of the month (see EUROPE 13036/10). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)