EU member state ambassadors will discuss extending the observer mission in Armenia during a meeting in Brussels on January 29, according to Rikard Jozwiak, Europe editor for RFE/RL.
Unless last-minute changes occur, ambassadors are expected to approve the proposal, extending the mission for two more years until February 19, 2027.
Under the draft plan, the mission's composition and personnel numbers will remain unchanged, consisting of 165 international and 44 Armenian staff members.
According to official sources, the mission monitors the entire Armenia-Azerbaijan border, including the Nakhijevan sector.
"The mission, given the vast area it covers, cannot monitor every incident along the border in real-time. Patrols prioritize visiting sites where incidents occur and report findings to the EU headquarters based on open sources and credible eyewitness accounts," the mission stated after its deployment.
Despite these clarifications and the fact that most observers are unarmed, Baku has criticized the mission from the outset, accusing it of espionage and undermining regional security. In late 2024, an Azerbaijani official even claimed that removing EU observers was a precondition for signing a peace agreement.
In November, Armenia's Prime Minister did not deny this claim; instead, he suggested a counterproposal:
"We have said—very well, let’s apply this arrangement to demarcated sections, because where the border is clearly defined, there is objectively no need for observers," Pashinyan stated.
The EU's foreign affairs office responded to Baku’s criticism by emphasizing that armed incidents in the border region had significantly decreased since the mission's deployment.
The EU observer mission’s official page states that its mandate covers Armenian territory along the entire Armenia-Azerbaijan border, including the northern section, where several Azerbaijani enclaves are located. For security reasons, all mission activities are coordinated with Armenian authorities, and Azerbaijan is notified before patrols take place.
