Azerbaijan renews calls for restrictions on Armenian military and removal of EU monitors

Azerbaijan has renewed calls for restrictions on Armenia’s military and called for the removal of EU border monitors, despite its own evergrowing military budget and capacity.

On 12 December, Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev reiterated a previous demand for ‘serious restrictions on Armenia’s military construction policy’, as ‘an occupying and aggressor state’.

He criticised countries ‘supplying attack-oriented weapons to Armenia’, accusing France of ‘participating in Armenia’s armament programme in violation of international law’.

It came ahead of a visit to France on Monday by Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan, who met with Fabien Mandon, the French Head of the Military Cabinet and adviser to President Emanuel Macron.

According to the Armenian Defence Ministry, ‘comprehensive discussions’ were held including on military education and training programmes, advisory support, and technical issues.

On 10 December, France and Armenia held strategic defence consultations at the Armenian Ministry of Defence, signing a defence cooperation programme for 2025.

Before the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenia relied almost exclusively on its traditional ally, Russia, for arms and military equipment.

However the inaction of Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in the face of Azerbaijani offensives on Armenia in 2021 and 2022, as well as delayed deliveries of previously purchased weapons, has led Yerevan to ‘diversify’ its relations in the security sector, with France becoming one of its main partners.

The deals between Armenia and France have previously received criticism from Azerbaijan and Russia, who accuse France of hindering the peace process between Yerevan and Baku.

Aside from France, Armenia has also struck several deals with India, reportedly receiving the first deliveries of an Indian Pinaka multiple launch rocket system at the end of November.

At the end of November, Greek media also reported that the country was in ‘advanced stages of negotiations’ with Armenia for the sale of several Russian-built surface to air missile systems — the S-300, TOR M-1, and OSA-AK.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on the reported talks with Greece, saying that bilateral intergovernmental agreements prohibit Greece from re-exporting Russian-supplied military equipment without Russia’s consent.

‘At the moment, we have not received any requests from the Greek side’, Zakharova said.

Military ‘number one priority’ for Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has continuously criticised Armenia’s arm acquisitions despite procuring arms of its own and expanding its defence budget and capabilities, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declaring in September that increasing military strength was Azerbaijan’s ‘number one priority’.

On Monday, Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov announced that Azerbaijan was increasing its military budget by ₼159 million ($94 million) in 2025 to ₼8.9 billion ($5 billion).

In November, on the anniversary of its victory in the 2020 war, Aliyev warned Armenia to abandon its policy of armament, stating that ‘they will never have the power to compete with us’.

On 12 December, Azerbaijani Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov met with Turkey’s Airforce Commander Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu. He stated that Armenia’s rearmament ‘negatively affects the preservation of peace and stability in the region’.

Along with his calls for limits on Armenia’s military in his 12 December statement, Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev also again demanded the withdrawal of the European Union’s Monitoring Mission in Armenia (EUMA), stating it was not ‘a factor contributing to the consolidation of peace in the region’.

The mission was deployed on the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan  in January 2023, following Azerbaijani incursions into Armenia.

Yerevan has repeatedly defended the importance of the mission in maintaining stability.

At the end of October, Armenian’s Foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan voiced concerns about ‘potential actions by Azerbaijan’ likely to take place before the ratification of a peace treaty or the completion of the delimitation of their borders.

‘Accordingly, we need a neutral third party to provide an objective assessment,’ Mirzoyan said.

A month later, in an apparent compromise, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia had offered to withdraw the EUMA from sections of the border with Azerbaijan that had already been delimited.

The comment came following comments by an Azerbaijani pro-government think tanker suggesting that the withdrawal of the EU observers was one of three main sticking points in the peace talks.