The EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia has been making headlines in Armenia in latest weeks following the Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev’s claims in August that the mission must be withdrawn.
Hikmet Hajiyev, talking with Politico in late August, instructed that progress in bilateral talks on a joint border fee deal, set to demarcate the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, “must be seen as enough for the withdrawal of the EU contingent.”
The EUMA is a non-executive, non-armed civilian Frequent Safety and Defence Coverage (CSDP) Mission established in 2023. It follows a previous EU mission (EUMCAP) that operated briefly in Armenia in late 2022.
The present mission was lobbied for by the Armenian authorities after an assault by Azerbaijani armed forces in Armenian territories in mid-September 2022, leading to over 300 casualties and territorial losses.
For the reason that institution of the mission, the risky scenario on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border has noticeably stabilised, with a major lower within the loss of life toll of troopers on each side.
If, in keeping with official Armenian statistics, 224 Armenian navy and civilians have been killed in Azerbaijani incursion into Armenian territory on 13-14 September 2022, the largest hostility of 2024 triggered 4 navy deaths on the Armenian aspect.
Regardless of its optimistic contributions, the mission has been always the goal of systematic disinformation campaigns from Russia and Azerbaijan alike, aimed toward discrediting its position and function and presenting it as a device for the West hybrid warfare within the area.
“The disinformation campaigns in opposition to the EUMA are remarkably constant. For months, Russian and Azerbaijani high-level officers and media retailers have relentlessly pushed the identical anti-EUMA narratives, repeating deceptive claims to erode the general public belief within the EUMA’s mission,” says OC Media journalist Arshaluys Barseghyan.
“The campaigns concentrating on the EUMA have putting similarities within the messaging from each nations’ officers, suggesting a synchronised try and discredit European involvement in Armenia,” Barseghyan provides.
NATO’s ‘hybrid warfare device’
In certainly one of his interviews from earlier this yr, Deputy Overseas Minister of Russia Mikhail Galuzin claimed that the EU monitoring mission is an instrument of the EU’s hybrid warfare in opposition to Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran. He additional said that the mission’s alleged “lack of transparency and accountability threatened the regional stability.”
Canada’s involvement within the mission, with the deployment of 1 civilian monitor in April 2024, has additional fueled this narrative. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs Spokesperson, Aykhan Hajizada, claimed in September that attributable to Canada’s becoming a member of the EUMA, the mission is, in reality, a NATO mission.
Hajizada’s assertion echoed virtually similar claims made by Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov just a few weeks prior. Based on Lavrov, the EUMA was morphing right into a NATO mission since servicemen from Norway, Canada, and america are becoming a member of it.
These claims got here though the EU had emphasised the mission remaining strictly civilian, furthermore unarmed.
Allegations of intelligence-gathering
The civilian nature of the EUMA has led Russian and Azerbaijani sources to accuse the mission of intelligence-gathering.
This narrative gained traction after February 2024 when Azerbaijani authorities arrested a Czech nationwide who allegedly entered Azerbaijan illegally from Armenia. Azerbaijani military-affiliated media speculated that the person may need ties to Western intelligence providers and the EU mission.
Such claims align with statements made by Russian Overseas Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who asserted in March that the EUMA was spying on Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan, escalating tensions within the area.
Equally, Russian Ambassador to Armenia, Sergei Kopirkin, said in an interview that the mission doesn’t defend the state’s borders in any respect, however “below the guise of ‘monitoring’ is engaged in accumulating intelligence in opposition to Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.”
Media retailers in Armenia which can be thought to have shut ties to Russia amplified these claims.
Towards Azerbaijan and Russia
One other recurring narrative accuses the mission of functioning as an EU propaganda device in opposition to Azerbaijan and Russia.
In February 2024, Azerbaijan’s ministry of international affairs questioned the impartiality of EUMA and condemned it for “binocular diplomacy.” It claimed the mission was allegedly utilizing the visits for European officers and casual delegations to frame areas to unfold “anti-Azerbaijani narratives” and “Azerbaijanophobia.”
Russia, too, superior this narrative, with Deputy Overseas Minister Galuzin claiming that the EUMA was spreading “anti-Russian propaganda” and “false concepts” concerning the EU as a guarantor of Armenia’s safety whereas concurrently partaking in actions that harmed Russian, Azerbaijani, and Iranian pursuits.
Russian media and officers additional portrayed the mission as an agent of Western affect within the South Caucasus.
Disinformation campaigns
Russian and Azerbaijani media have painted the mission as a neo-colonial EU undertaking. They declare it’s a part of the EU’s supposed aspirations to create a post-modernist empire, extending its affect below the guise of battle decision.
Some others as an alternative goal to delegitimise the mission by presenting it as merely inefficient regardless of the numerous lower in navy incidents between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Apparently, all the abovementioned narratives have been circulated inside Armenia by media retailers and consultants reportedly affiliated with Russia.
“These narratives are distributed in Armenia by even mere replica of the statements of high-level Russian officers, comparable to Sergei Lavrov or Mariya Zakharova,” Ani Grigoryan, the editor and founding father of #CivilNetCheck, advised Euractiv.
“Typically the Armenian media are simply translating these statements with no disclaimers or fact-checked and verified data added to those statements․ Тhis vicious observe strengthens these narratives within the Armenian media house,” Grigoryan continues.
As well as, the Armenian-language service of Russian Sputnik has constantly invited pro-Russian Armenian commentators to advertise anti-EUMA narratives inside Armenia.
Regardless of steady efforts by Russian and Azerbaijani officers to discredit the mission, the EU’s continued presence and elevated help to stabilise the risky safety scenario within the Caucasus assist Armenia to strengthen its sovereignty and democracy.
This text is a part of the FREIHEIT media undertaking on Europe’s Neighbourhood, funded by the European Media and Data Fund (EMIF).
[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Martina Monti]