EU Delegation at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border

There will be a civilian EU mission in the Armenia-Azerbaijan border area. This came in a joint statement distributed after negotiations between the two countries, led by French President Macron and President of the European Council of Governments Michel, according to the French news agency.

The mission will start this month and will last for a maximum of two months. It is unclear how many people are involved. The mission aims to help maintain peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan by mediating border demarcation.

Fighting between the two countries killed hundreds of people last month until a US-brokered ceasefire took effect. Last night, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev negotiated this issue in Prague. The talks took place in the shadow of the first meeting of the European political group, which is also an initiative of Macron.

According to the joint statement, during the talks the two countries emphasized that they respect each other’s borders, as stipulated in the Alma-Ata Declaration in 1991, which followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since then, however, the two countries have fought several times for territories: not only for the border between them, but also for the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is located in Azerbaijan but is claimed by both countries. Fighting for that area claimed about 6,500 lives in 2020, then ended after Russian mediation.