Armenian Defense Ministry accuses Azerbaijan of shelling EU monitors

Units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire on an observer from the European Union. About it reported at the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

“On August 15, at about 12:20, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire from small arms in the direction of the EU monitors patrolling in the Verin Shorzha region and their vehicle,” the report says.

No one was injured in the incident, officials said.

At the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan declaredthat this information “does not correspond to reality and is another disinformation of the enemy.” They noted that the agency is informed in advance about the stay and movement of EU monitors in Armenia, so this situation is “impossible”.

At the same time, on its account in X (formerly Twitter), the EU mission in Armenia also refuted bombardment message.

In October 2022, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell informedthat the EU monitoring mission began work on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The mission was agreed upon by 27 countries of the union. They decided to send up to 40 EU experts to the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan to monitor, analyze and report on the situation in the region.

The aggravation of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh has been dragging on since September 2020, when hostilities began in the region between the military of Armenia and Azerbaijan. As a result, a tripartite statement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Hostilities have completely ceased in the conflict zone, and Russian peacekeepers have also been deployed along the line of contact and in the Lachin corridor.

The situation around Nagorno-Karabakh worsened again in 2022, when the State Border Guard Service of Azerbaijan installed a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor, on the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

August 12 Armenian Foreign Ministry informedthat Armenia applied to the UN Security Council with a request to convene an emergency meeting in connection with the deterioration of the humanitarian situation as a result of the forced blockade of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh.