Interviews and press conferences
The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan Delivered a Speech During the Event Marking the Second Anniversary of the Deployment of the European Union Mnitoring Mission in Armenia
28 / 02 / 2025
Dear Mr. Ritter,
Dear Representatives of the Legislative and Executive branches,
Dear Ambassadors and Diplomats,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to join all the congratulations and express my special gratitude to the European Union, the EU Member States and the personnel of the observation mission for their work and important mission. We highly appreciate the mission’s work as a security mechanism, which shows the EU’s commitment to peace in the region. In this context, it is also important to note that the EU has recently extended the mission's mandate for another two years, which is a clear signal that the EU continues to support the maintenance of stability and the establishment of peace in the region.
The EU mission has become an important tool for ensuring regional transparency. The mission has repeatedly proven its demand. A vivid example of what I am saying is the work carried out by the mission before the Pashinyan-Blinken-Von der Leyen meeting held in Brussels on April 5 last year. You all remember well which false accusations were made against Armenia. There were false rumors that Armenia was preparing for an attack, and the EU mission played an important role here, by refuting the disinformation and helping to stabilise the situation through its observations.
In addition to the above, the mission has a positive impact on ensuring stability on the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The EU Monitoring Mission is often targeted and subjected to unjustified criticism by different countries because of its role as a factor of stability. It also does not surprise us that sometimes the content of criticism coming from two different capitals coincides by almost 99 percent. We consider the false propaganda against the EU mission unacceptable, and we will continue our joint work with the mission to counter disinformation.
Dear attendees,
In addition to being a factor of stability in the region, the mission also positively changes the perceptions of the Armenian public about the EU. Of course, this is not the mission’s mandate to positively change the perceptions of the Armenian public about Europe, but this is a byproduct. Therefore, I would also like to evaluate the EU in this regard.
In the last two years, the mission has expanded both in terms of the number of observers and the countries involved. We welcome the expansion of the mission and the participation of Canada within the mission, which symbolizes the consensus of democratic thinking.
The EU Monitoring Mission has set an important milestone in Armenia-EU relations, and the bilateral work of these two years is an indicator of effective cooperation. Armenia-EU relations are value-based, naturally strong, prospective and expanding. We are determined to continuously expand our partnership in the security sector.
Dear attendees, once again I congratulate all of us and wish peace and success in our joint work.
Thank you.