On Monday 20 February, the Council of the EU launched the EU civilian CSDP mission in Armenia (EUMA Armenia). The mission, deployed on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on the Armenian side, aims to contribute to stability in the border areas, to build confidence and human security in the conflict-affected areas and to ensure an environment conducive to EU-supported normalisation efforts between the two countries.
The EUMA, formally established by a Council decision on 23 January (see EUROPE 13105/5), will have about 100 staff - exclusively civilians - including about 50 unarmed observers, and will be led in the field by Markus Ritter (see EUROPE 13107/31). The operational headquarters of the mission will be located in Yeghegnadzor. Its initial term of office is two years.
The EUMA follows the surveillance capability deployed in the autumn in Armenia (see EUROPE 13044/13).
On Twitter, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan welcomed the launch of the mission, underlining his deep appreciation to the EU and its member states “for showing their strong solidarity with Armenia”. “The deployment of the mission should play a role in de-escalating and establishing stability and ultimately bringing peace to the region”, he explained. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)