Yerevan /Mediamax/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin believes that the expansion of the EU civil mission in Armenia will increase tensions in the South Caucasus.

“The very appearance of this mission in Armenia is an absolutely useless step in terms of promoting the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization. We are convinced that the expansion of the EU mission will be absolutely useless and will not yield any result in terms of promoting the normalization, the key principles of which were worked out in November 2020 by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia and enshrined in several trilateral joint statements,” TASS quoted Galuzin as saying.

“The EU brings nothing new to the South Caucasus, it only brings additional tension and distrust. The EU’s policy in the South Caucasus is aimed solely at forcing Russia out of there, while using our achievements in the process of peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the diplomat added.

The EU Foreign Ministers decided to increase the number of the EU civil mission in Armenia (EUMA) up to 209 people.

This was announced by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on December 11 at a news conference following the meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers. On the morning of December 11, the ministers held an informal meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Brussels.

“This is an important increase in the size of the mission and it is a way to increase the stability of Armenia’s international border with Azerbaijan,” Borrell said.

He added that “now there is a historic opportunity to achieve peace in the region and the EU plans to work with Armenia and Azerbaijan in this direction.”

On November 1, EUMA head Markus Ritter said that the EUMA is fully staffed, with 93 members from 23 EU countries working in it.