BAKU. Feb 9 (Interfax) - The European Union has been trying to squeeze Russia out of the normalization process between Azerbaijani and Armenian, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov said.
"Actions [of the EU] aim to squeeze Russia out of the Azerbaijani-Armenian normalization process," Bocharnikov said in an interview with the Azerbaijani website Haqqin.az describing Russia's attitude to the EU's decision to deploy a new European Union mission to Armenia (EUMA).
There are no grounds for bringing a non-regional factor into the South Caucasus, he said.
"This is exactly what the European Union is doing, while doing it in a very clumsy manner, without coordinating with Azerbaijan. Of course, in this matter, the European Union appears to be acting as a direct appendage of the United States and NATO, which view the CIS space as a zone for countering Russia and are actually trying to bring the geopolitical element here, into this regional situation. That's what I would say," Bocharnikov said.
"I also think we should not be misled by the term 'civilian mission'. [...] There are grounds to believe it will be not quite civilian. At least, I have heard about the discussion of a possible inclusion of French gendarmes in this mission," he said.
The EUMA is a conductor of the common policy of the European Union in the field of security and defense, rather than in some civilian area, Bocharnikov said. "The potential of its evolving into a certain presence with possible military components, the possibility [...] of this mission starting to look into Karabakh, which would be a violation of its mandate, make me say that such risks exist. Attempts to expand this mission's presence into Karabakh may create problems for Russian peacekeepers and Russian border guards stationed in that region. Such problems pose a risk to security of the entire region, the entire South Caucasus," the Russian diplomat said.
"We, component parts, residents of this region do not need non-regional forces to solve our problems here," Bocharnikov said.
The Council of the European Union decided on January 23, 2023, to establish an EU civilian mission in Armenia within the framework of the common security and defense policy. The EUMA's initial mandate will last for two years, and its headquarters will be stationed in Armenia.