ArmInfo. Moscow once again emphasizes the 'complete ineffectiveness of the EU presence' in
Armenia in terms of preventing incidents 'on the ground'. This was stated on April 18 during a weekly briefing by official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in response to a request to comment on the start of activities of the representative of Canada in the EU Civilian Mission in Armenia
(EUMA). According to her, Moscow has already commented on this issue.
"Every day we become more and more convinced of the absence of any
positive contribution of the European Union to the normalization of
relations between Baku and Yerevan. On the contrary, EU
representatives are engaged in various kinds of provocations,
intelligence activities, propaganda. It is not surprising that this
causes natural rejection among the countries of the region, whose
approaches coincide with the fact that any problem arising in the
Transcaucasus should be solved within the South Caucasus, based on
the interests of all the countries here, without external destructive
interference," he noted.
At the same time, in Moscow's understanding, the issue of Ottawa
joining the EU mission has already entered the practical plane. "The
other day, a 'so-called' expert from Canada arrived in Armenia. What
the added value of this decision is, how much it is in demand by
Armenians, is unclear. Let them comment on it themselves. Most
likely, in this situation, it means that the 'junior' partner of the
United States, the European Union, is being used Washington to bring
NATO forces into the region. It is obvious that on the other side of
the Atlantic they want not only to expand their capacity to control
the situation on the ground, but also to 'keep an eye' on their
European allies," Zakharova noted, once again emphasizing the
increase in NATO's presence in the region will only lead to a
decrease in trust in the South Caucasus and escalation.
According to her, the goal of the EU and NATO in this region is not
peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Zakharova added that the West
continues to militarize the Transcaucasus, turning it into another
arena of geopolitical rivalry, thereby putting an end to the plan for
the peaceful development of this region.
Days earlier, the EU observation mission in Armenia announced the
joining of the first Canadian expert, Alexander Grushevskiy, to the
mission.
