Logo of the new Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) unarmed civilian European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) that will be headquartered in Yeghegnadzor, Vayots Dzor region.
The 100-strong European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) today started its two-year mission observing the border with Azerbaijan. The deployment follows the temporary two-month European Union Monitoring Capacity (EUMCAP) that ended its duties on 19 December last year. With this in mind, last week I completed a 1,200-word article on EUMA that includes comments from Armenian and Azerbaijani analysts as well as those involved in the EU’s recruitment process for the mission.
Unfortunately, however, it won’t be published until towards the end of this week.
So, by means of a brief update until then, it is important to note that media reports saying EUMA would consist of 100 actual monitors were incorrect from the very start. For several weeks now, sources told me that it was likely that the unarmed civilian mission would instead consist of “not less than the 40 monitors for EUMCAP” while others said possibly as many as 60. Today, in an official statement from the European Council, it is now known that EUMA’s 100 staff will include ‘around 50 monitors.’
This should not come as any surprise given the need for support and administrative personnel.
It is also possible that some of the 50 monitors will also cover for the core team in cases of sick leave, vacation time, and other requirements depending on the situation. Basically, there is still plenty we don’t know about EUMA and in the article I also detailed some of the concerns surrounding EUMA that I touched upon in this blog post here. Ultimately, the EU will likely be continually assessing the effectiveness of the mission and modifying its operations as the deployment takes shape and any pressing issues emerge.
For now though, the deployment of EUMA is to be welcomed if those concerns and other outstanding issues can be addressed and resolved. Certainly, it seems that the EU is aware of them and this flexibility is likely built-in. Of immediate concern, however, is how EUMA is being misrepresented by some media in Armenia. One prominent outlet is already spreading news that the mission could be armed. This is incredibly sensitive and potentially dangerous for EUMA given the need to earn the trust of the adjacent Azerbaijani and Russian militaries.
Though there will be police and gendarmes, especially from Germany and France, seconded to act as EUMA monitors, they will also not be armed and a transfer of command will see them act solely under the mission. The use of seconded police in unarmed EU CSDP missions is also not new. Hopefully the European Union will issue a statement clarifying this before any damage is done when not even a day has passed since EUMA started its operation.
Anyway, as I mentioned, a comprehensive article will be published in the coming days, but until then, see my blog posts on EUMA here.
