Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly speaks as she participates in a media availability, Tuesday, May 16, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea . THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
OTTAWA – Canada is sending two officials to support a European mission that is aiming to prevent another war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The unarmed European Union mission in Armenia is a project involving a hundred civilian monitors who keep tabs on the security situation at the border with Azerbaijan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced that Canada will contribute to the mission and send two recruited experts.
The mission follows heightened tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an area that is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians but is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan.
Joly said in April that she was “deeply concerned” about Azerbaijan escalating the long-running dispute with Armenia over the province by blocking its main access road.
Canada has joined similar European Union missions in the past, with military and civilian projects deployed to places such as Afghanistan and the West Bank.
The move comes just months before Canada aims to open a full embassy in Armenia this fall.
It also follows unconfirmed reports that Canada may loosen its arms embargo against Turkey, which Ottawa barred from receiving weapons after Canadian sensors showed up in drones Azerbaijan used in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a 2020 war.
Tensions rose in the area last fall, when the region’s main access road was blocked by groups of Azerbaijanis who insisted they were independent environmental activists opposed to mining.
The Azerbaijan government claims it has no ties to the groups, but others have disputed that assertion.
In recent months, the two countries have lowered the temperature in their long-running dispute, but access to the region is reportedly still limited, affecting the availability of food.
In April 2022, former foreign minister Stéphane Dion presented a report to Joly on supporting Armenian democracy, as part of his role as the Liberals’ special envoy for Europe.
The report said Ottawa should prioritize developing Armenia’s “fragile democracy” by helping efforts to fight corruption.
It noted that Russia’s influence in the region is waning as Moscow diverts military resources to its invasion of Ukraine, which has put some of its neighbours on edge.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2023.
