YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—The European Union is considering providing “non-lethal” military aid to Armenia, the head of the EU Delegation in Yerevan, Vassilis Maragos, said on Thursday, repeating a statement made by him four months ago.
“We are talking about significant assistance that would strengthen [the country’s] capailities,” Maragos told a parliamentary hearing in Yerevan on Armenia’s “European integration.”
He said it would be provided from the European Peace Facility, a special fund designed to boost EU partners’ defense capacity. Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian revealed last July that Yerevan requested “technical assistance” from the fund but was rebuffed by Brussels.
A team of officials from the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, and External Action Service discussed the matter with Armenian leaders during a November visit to Yerevan. In a statement on their trip, the EU said it “will further explore non-lethal support to the Armenian military via the European Peace Facility.”
Maragos said in early December that the EU will send in the coming weeks a “technical mission” to Armenia that will come up with “concrete proposals” regarding such aid after assessing the country’s security needs. Neither the EU nor the Armenian government has reported such a visit so far.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken are scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels on Friday. Responding to concerns expressed by Azerbaijan, U.S. and EU officials have said that the meeting will focus on Western support for political and economic reforms in Armenia.
In a phone call with Blinken on Thursday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned the Western powers against “arming Armenia,” including through the European Peace Facility.
In recent weeks, Baku has also stepped up its criticism of an EU monitoring mission launched along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan over a year ago and expanded last November.