Kerim Valiyev, the Azerbaijani army chief of staff, renewed Baku’s criticism of the EU’s monitoring mission during a meeting with a visiting senior NATO military official on Wednesday. He said that the mission launched in February 2023 has “created obstacles” to an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement and is “escalating the situation in the South Caucasus.”
Valiyev made the claim two days after a website linked to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry alleged that European monitors and Armenian military personnel are jointly “spying on Azerbaijani territory” in possible preparation for a “new provocation.” The EU mission categorically denied the allegation.
The mission is tasked with preventing or reducing ceasefire violations along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The EU decided late last year to increase the number of its members from 138 to 209.
In February this year, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry summoned the EU ambassador in Baku to challenge the impartiality of the European monitors and warn them against causing “damage to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.”
Russia has also been very critical of the mission, saying that it is part of U.S. and EU efforts to drive it out of the South Caucasus. It has repeatedly accused the EU monitors of spying on Russian troops stationed in Armenia. The director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, repeated that accusation late last week.
The Armenian government has defended the mission, saying that it has succeeded in easing tensions along the long and volatile border. It requested the deployment after accusing Russia and ex-Soviet allies of refusing to defend Armenia against Azerbaijani attacks in 2022.