By Mark Dovich
European Union countries approved the bloc’s first-ever military aid package to Armenia and agreed to launch visa liberalization talks with the country in separate decisions Monday that Armenia’s top diplomat hailed as “historic.”
The EU will disburse nearly $11 million from a program that provides military assistance to non-member countries to boost the Armenian army’s logistical capabilities, improve its capacity to protect civilian lives, and enhance efforts to make it more interoperable with other countries’ militaries, the European Council said in a press release.
“Security is an increasingly important element of our bilateral relations with Armenia. This European Peace Facility measure will further contribute to the resilience of the country,” European Council President Charles Michel was quoted as saying.
In addition, the assistance “will allow the provision of a fully-fledged deployable tent camp for a battalion-sized unit,” the statement added. That is in line with past reporting by Radio Azatutyun, RFE/RL’s Armenian service, which said the funding could be put toward setting up a mobile field hospital for Armenian service members.
Olivier Decottignies, Paris’ ambassador to Yerevan, said on the social platform X the EU’s move to provide military aid to Armenia was “a decision adopted at France’s initiative.”
Separately, the European Council agreed to allow the European Commission, the EU’s main executive body, to launch visa liberalization talks with Armenia. The process of lifting visa requirements for Armenian citizens looking to make short trips to Europe is expected to take years.
Ararat Mirzoyan, Armenia’s foreign minister, quickly welcomed the news in a post on X, calling it “historic” and a “very important milestone” in Yerevan’s relations with Brussels.
