ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

EU greenlights Armenia mission to ease border tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 27, 2022. (Alexey Danichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 27, 2022. (Alexey Danichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Share
BRUSSELS -

The European Union agreed on Monday to dispatch a civilian mission to Armenia to help boost security around its border and improve relations with neighboring Azerbaijan, amid tensions over a transport corridor to the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The mission, which was requested by Armenia and has a mandate for two years, will "conduct routine patrolling" in border areas to "strengthen the EU's understanding of the situation on the ground," the bloc said in a statement.

"The EU will continue to support de-escalation efforts and is committed to work closely with both sides towards the ultimate goal of sustainable peace in the region," the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

Now, two years after the former Soviet countries ended a war that killed about 6,800 soldiers and displaced around 90,000 civilians, tensions between them are high again over a dispute focused on a six-kilometre (nearly four-mile) road known as the Lachin Corridor.

The winding road is the only land connection between Armenia and the ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan. It has been blocked by protesters claiming to be environmental activists since mid-December, threatening food supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh's 120,000 people.

The dispute raises fears that new fighting could break out, and casts doubts over the intentions of Russia, whose peacekeeping troops are charged with keeping the road secure.

The EU has been trying to broker an agreement between them, and helped get their two leaders to the negotiating table last October to advance talks on a border mission backed by the Europeans.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

BREAKING

BREAKING

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.