Syrian Ohanyan on Possible Long-Term EU Mission

The leader of the "Armenia" faction in the National Assembly, Seyran Ohanyan, commented during a press briefing on media reports that the EU intends to send a long-term observation mission to Armenia. He also addressed the statement made by the Russian Foreign Minister regarding the proposal to send a CSTO mission for ongoing monitoring, noting that we should not oppose a potential observation mission from the EU, but it is crucial to remember who Armenia’s partners are and who ensures peace for the people of Artsakh.

“Armenia must work in all directions. The EU is not our enemy, but the EU also has problems in this region with our strategic partners, our neighbors, referring to Russia and Iran. I believe we should not be against observation missions if the current government can carry out the necessary work in that direction,” Ohanyan stated.

He also emphasized that an observation mission can only document any changes in the situation and present them to the European platform, while the European platform does not have options for taking further actions in this context. “We must look at who our partners are today, who ensures peace for Artsakh and its people, whose troops and units are stationed in Armenia, and whom we have strategic partnerships with,” he added.

The faction leader pointed out that the guarantor of the security of the Artsakh people is the Russian peacekeeping forces, and also the Artsakh Defense Army. Ohanyan recalled that the Artsakh Defense Army was established at the initial stage of Artsakh’s self-determination to protect its own rights and to carry out its own self-defense.

“The statement made by the Azerbaijani leadership, claiming that Armenian forces should be removed from Artsakh, is unacceptable. There are Armenian forces in Artsakh, but they are not from Armenia; they are the Armenian forces of Artsakh. The Artsakh Defense Army has been created solely on the basis of Artsakh’s resources,” he asserted.