EU observer mission looks S Caucasus through its binocular diplomacy

Sometimes, in the realm of diplomacy, being a peace broker does not work out for all parties. For example, although the intention of the European Union mission in Armenia to create peace in the South Caucasus and particularly with Azerbaijan seems convincing, there are nevertheless secret goals behind the issue. However, those goals are known only to the EU.

While its internal problems are overwhelming, the European Union has decided to entrench itself on Armenia's borders under the guise of democracy and protection of freedoms. Although the EU appointed this mission on the borders of Armenians ostensibly to protect them from an alleged possible attack from Azerbaijan, the violations still come from the former. The EU monitoring mission in Armenia, with over 200 employees with 200 binoculars and more than 2000 patrols, has not seen any attempt at violations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

It should be noted that in recent days, it has become known that the EU mission on the Armenian border is engaged in espionage against Azerbaijan. The new was confirmed following a Czech citizen who was detained while crossing the border from Armenia on the Azerbaijani side.

Also, the European Union Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Peter Mihalko, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan in connection with serious concerns about the activities of the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) observers. We have repeatedly written about the suspicious activities of this EU mission near the border with Azerbaijan. The activities of the mission are not transparent, the Armenian public is not informed about the main activities of the mission in the country, and perhaps it is related to some authorities in Armenia.

On the one hand, the EU wanted to put pressure on Azerbaijan with initiatives to impose sanctions against it; on the other hand, the EU is looking at Azerbaijan's energy, oil, and gas sectors. By establishing observation posts over Armenian territory, the EU is essentially serving its own political agenda, which includes targeting Russian forces throughout the region.

It was brought to the EU's attention that the mission has essentially become an agent of "binocular diplomacy," facilitating visits by various European officials and unofficial delegations to the border regions.

Indeed, as the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan noted, "all such visits, without exception, are used to spread unjustified Azerbaijanophobia."

It was noted that the recent case of preventing an attempt to illegally cross the EUMA zone of responsibility casts a serious shadow on the stated tasks of the mission.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated in a series of consultations with EU representatives that the presence of the EU mission in Armenia should not serve as a pretext for avoiding the fulfilment of the obligations undertaken. Abuse of the presence of this mission affects the process of normalisation of relations between the neighbours, including the process of border delimitation, which should be carried out on a bilateral basis, and the EU understands this well and is not acting dangerously for Azerbaijan but for itself.

Let us recall that in Prague on October 6, 2022, Azerbaijan agreed to the deployment of an EU monitoring mission to Armenia, hoping that it would help the process of normalising relations between Baku and Yerevan. However, despite the clearly defined parameters and objectives of the mission agreed upon at the highest level, the monitoring mission's activities have been accompanied by serious deviations from the agreements reached in Prague due to the biased approach of some EU member states.

Although AR PM Nikol Pashinyan, in his own manner, stated in a recent interview that "I will do everything to establish peace in our region," the actions of the monitoring mission tell a different story. Only they and their patrons know what they are looking at through their binoculars.

Let us also recall that the head of the EU delegation in Armenia, Vasilis Maragos, said that one of the reasons why Brussels focused on Zangazur (Syunik) is that "the Armenian authorities approached us with this issue after the 2020 war, and from the local authorities of Syunik, we received a very clear concept and a very clear vision".

In addition to the fact that the West has tried and is trying to hinder the peace process in the South Caucasus, they are also trying to create a space for themselves in the region through Armenia due to geopolitical and geostrategic purposes.

Armenia is so into the sweet promises of the West that it is already ignoring its long-time ally, Russia. However, Yerevan is well aware that its borders are completely under the control of the Kremlin, and this is a reality that will not change for it even if Armenia leaves the CSTO.