The EU Mission in Armenia performs an important function of observing the internationally recognized border between Armenia and Azerbaijan along the entire length, Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan said at the event dedicated to the first anniversary of deployment of the EU Civilian mission in Armenia.
“Our assessment is that the mission contributes to the stability of the region and is an important factor in ensuring transparency regarding current events,” Grigoryan said, adding that the criticism of the mission from various countries is unjustified and unacceptable.
“We are grateful to more than two dozen EU member states, the leadership in Brussels and, of course, the staff of the mission for contributing to this important mission. We hope and expect that we will soon see the representatives of all EU member states in the mission. We welcome Canada’s participation and Norway’s willingness to join the mission,” he added.
At the same time, Armenian Grigoryan noted that “we do not want to be only a consumer of security, and in that context, Armenia has informed Brussels that it is ready to contribute to EU civilian missions.”
Armenia’s top security official commended the expansion of Armenia-EU relations over he past years, noting that the relations have expanded from economic cooperation and institutional reforms to embrace security. We consider the EU and its member states as important partners in Armenia’s security and economic diversification.
He emphasized that the mission is also one of the important links of cooperation with the EU. “It raised Yerevan-Brussels relations to a new level and, as we often mention, had a positive impacted the public opinion in Armenia about the EU.
“We share the same democratic values with the European Union and we are happy to note that the partnership based on common values has also included the security sphere,” Armen Grigoryan stated.
