Duda met with Polish members of the EU monitoring mission (EUMA) and joined them on a border patrol, conducted at a border section 75 kilometers south of Yerevan, at the end of his official visit to Armenia on Wednesday. According to a statement by his office, he “familiarized himself with the situation” in the area and praised the EUMA, saying that it has succeeded in “calming down the situation” along the more than 1,000-kilometer-long frontier.
“He indicated that talks are underway on Poland's greater involvement in this undertaking through an increase in the number of Polish representatives,” added the statement.
During his talks with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Duda offered to help Armenia and Azerbaijan end their long-running conflict. The Polish leader visited Baku earlier this month to take part in the COP29 climate summit.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the Polish charge d’affaires in Baku and handed him a note of protest against what it called Duda’s “provocation” and “participation in anti-Azerbaijani propaganda.” In a separate statement, the ministry accused him of undermining Azerbaijan’s “strategic partnership” with Poland.
Armenia - European Union monitors patrol Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, February 20, 2023.
Baku has been very critical of the EU mission ever since its launch in February 2023. In October this year, a top Azerbaijani general accused it of “escalating the situation in the South Caucasus.”
The EUMA is tasked with preventing or reducing ceasefire violations. The EU decided late last year to increase the number of its members from 138 to 209. Armenian officials have repeatedly described the mission as a success.
Pashinian confirmed late last week reports that Baku is demanding the withdrawal of the EU monitors during ongoing negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. He said the Armenian side has made a “counterproposal” to remove them from only demarcated border sections.
The mission’s two-year mandate ends in February 2025. It is still not clear whether Yerevan will ask the EU to extend it.
Pashinian’s government requested the EU deployment after accusing Russia and ex-Soviet allies of refusing to defend Armenia against Azerbaijani attacks in 2022. Moscow has also opposed the mission, saying that it is part of U.S. and EU efforts to drive Russia out of the South Caucasus. It has repeatedly accused the EU monitors of spying on Russian troops stationed in Armenia.