Armenia to establish Defence Attaché to the EU and Belgium

On Thursday, the Armenian government passed a decision to send a Defence Attaché to the EU and Belgium.

In its justification of the government’s draft decision to appoint and accredit the Defence Attaché, the Armenian Defence Ministry noted ‘the significant development of Armenia’s cooperation with Belgium and the EU in the defence, security and military sectors in the recent period’.

It also said that Armenia’s Defence Attaché to NATO, which operates according to the government’s decision adopted in February 2024, will concurrently serve in these posts.

‘The adoption of this draft will create an opportunity for the Ministry of Defence of Armenia to work effectively in the EU through the Defence Attaché, will contribute to the further strengthening and development of institutional ties, as well as the expansion of opportunities for military and military-political cooperation’, the Defence Ministry said.

The ministry also mentioned several recent developments, which ‘have created favorable conditions for the further development of military cooperation with the EU’.

Among those was mentioned the €10 million ($10.5 million) assistance, in the form of non-lethal aid, provided to Armenia through the European Peace Facility for the first time in July 2024.

In late February, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan said that Armenia had already ‘placed the request for the continuation of assistance for [20]25’.

Armenia says negotiations on new Armenian–EU agenda ‘almost accomplished’

The comment was made during the fourth EU–Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee meeting held in Yerevan.

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Shortly after Hovhannisyan’s statement, RFE/RL reported, citing its sources in Brussels, that the EU is considering allocating an additional €10 million ($10.5 million) in ‘non-lethal’ military aid to Armenia from the same fund. It also said that Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, has reportedly submitted a relevant proposal ‘to the bloc’s decision-making council’.

The ministry also noted ‘the launch of negotiations on the Framework Agreement on the [Armenia}'s participation in EU crisis management missions, the significant expansion of the security and defence component in the new Armenia–EU partnership agenda’ among the reasons for such a move.

In regards to the placement of the Defence Attaché in Belgium, the Defence Ministry noted that the military cooperation launched with this country ‘can also play a positive role in the development of [Armenia]’s defence capability and resilience in the long term’.

The Armenian authorities have continued to foster security ties with the West and other countries, after both Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) failed to send assistance during Azerbaijani incursions into Armenia in 2021 and 2022.

On Tuesday, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin told 24News that ‘the topic of military-technical cooperation exists’ and ‘is on the agenda’ of Armenia–Russia relations. He also claimed that no other country gave Armenia ‘any security guarantee that would be comparable’ with what Russia offered.

Yerevan has also been critical of Moscow’s failure to commit to weapons deals, having purchased military supplies from Russia in 2021 but only receiving the first batch of the agreed-upon supplies in January 2024.

In January, Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan said that an agreement was reached between the Finance Ministries of Armenia and Russia, according to which the amount paid by Armenia for weapons would be deducted from the interstate debt.

Armenia steps up military ties with West as Russia relations tumble

The Armenian authorities have continued to foster security ties with the West, as the country’s relations with Moscow remain in freefall. Earlier this week, the Chief of Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Eduard Asryan, visited the United States European Command in Stuttgart, where he met with de…

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