Bergkarabach

Russia said on Wednesday that it had appointed one of its most senior army commanders to lead a peacekeeping force in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as tensions rise again between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The problem with the mandate of the new EU mission it that it was not accepted by Azerbaijan. It is not mandated to contain potential Armenian provocations against Azerbaijan, which is why Azerbaijan found it biased.

Azerbaijan and Armenia said Tuesday (11 April) seven servicemen died in a shootout along their shared border, the latest escalation between the arch-foes locked in a decades-long territorial dispute.

Russia on Saturday accused Azerbaijan of violating the Moscow-brokered ceasefire that ended the 2020 war with Armenia, by letting its troops cross over the demarcation line. … Last week, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned against a “very high risk of escalation” in Karabakh.

Armenia’s prime minister has accused a Moscow-dominated security alliance of leaving his country in the cold in the face of a threat of renewed hostilities with neighbouring Azerbaijan.

An exchange of fire along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in the Caucasus left at least five dead on Sunday, officials said.

Today, the European Union is launching the EU civilian mission in Armenia (EU Mission in Armenia/EUMA) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EUMA was formally established by a Council Decision on 23 January 2023.

Armenia has presented to arch-foe Baku a project for a full peace treaty to end the Caucasus neighbors’ decades-long dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday.

If the Europeans end up securing relative peace for Armenia and corroborate Azerbaijan’s border encroachments, it will be undeniable that Russia is not the only force Yerevan can rely on.

The European Union is sending monitors to Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, so as to lessen the danger of renewed fighting between the two countries over Nagorno-Karabakh and other issues. Brussels must give the mission the means and mandate it will need to succeed.