Member of the ruling Civil Contract party Artur Hovhannisyan has said that Armenia does not need to explain to anyone that the EU civil observation mission is not directed against any party.
"Thanks to diplomatic efforts, Armenia has been able to agree with EU partners to extend the mission, this is solely in the interests of Armenia," Hovhannisyan said.
According to him, Armenia is "very active" in contacts with Russia, Western partners, and Iran.
Foreign ministers from the 27 EU member countries met in Luxembourg in October and agreed a civil mission to address problem on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They decided to send up to 40 EU experts on the Armenian side of the border to monitor, analyze and report the situation in the region. The mission was deployed on October 20 and finished its work on December 19. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in late December that the European Union plans to deploy a long-term mission to Armenia to promote lasting peace in the South Caucasus.
