“We are now waiting for the European Union’s decision to include Armenia in the European Peace Facility (EPF),” Pashinian told a panel discussion held as part of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.
After months of deliberations, the EU moved earlier this year to approve “non-lethal” aid to Armenia from the EPF, a special fund designed to boost EU partners’ defense capacity. A relevant draft document seen by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in mid-April calls for 10 million euros (about $11 million) to be provided to the Armenian military over the next two-and-a-half years.
The allocation requires the unanimous backing of all EU member states. A European diplomatic source said late last month that one of those states, Hungary. has for weeks been vetoing the decision and demanding that similar aid also be provided to Azerbaijan.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan visited Budapest last week. Official readouts of his talks with his Hungarian leaders made no mention of the EPF assistance sought by Yerevan. Nor did Mirzoyan comment on the issue at a May 6 joint news conference with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.
Pashinian likewise did not clarify whether Yerevan is trying to get the Hungarian government, which has supported Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to drop its objections to the EU aid that would be used creating medical facilities for a battalion-size army unit.
He again pledged to “diversify” Armenia’s foreign relations and stressed in that regard the importance of a monitoring mission deployed by the EU to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
“It is the first time that the EU is somehow involved in Armenia's security agenda,” added Pashinian.
Russia has repeatedly denounced the EU mission, saying that it is part of Western efforts to minimize Russian presence in the South Caucasus. Russian-Armenian relations have further deteriorated over the past year, with Pashinian threatening to pull his country out of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.