“Armenia seeks closer military cooperation with Greece”

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his country expects more enhanced military cooperation with Greece, as he met his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens.

Pashinyan said the two countries have “a long story of defense cooperation” and Armenia’s rapprochement with the EU opens new opportunities.

“Cooperation between the two countries is successfully developing in various spheres. We have quite a long history of cooperation in the field of defense, and I am sure that this cooperation will become more effective,” he said at a meeting with Mitsotakis.

The Armenian prime minister thanked Greece for taking part in the EU monitoring mission that is deployed on the border with Azerbaijan.

“Greece is one of our most important partners in the European Union,” he said. “We are grateful for Greece’s participation in the EU mission on the border of Armenia with Azerbaijan. I am sure that during this visit we will have the opportunity to discuss the agenda of bilateral cooperation, Armenia-EU relations, regional and international issues.”

Asked about the upcoming meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Berlin on Feb. 28 – 29, Pashinyan said he hopes for progress on a peace treaty with Baku.

“You know that the next meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia is expected in the near future. I hope that progress will be made as a result of this meeting,” he said.

​Mitsotakis, for his part, said Greece remains fully committed to respecting each state’s territorial integrity and sovereignty as “we believe in dialogue and the peaceful resolution of disputes.”

He said, “I insist that only a viable peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku can pave the way for a better tomorrow in the Southern Caucasus.”

Mitsotakis also emphasized that Greece supports Armenia’s efforts to develop closer relations with the West and is ready to offer its expertise and know-how as a member of NATO and the EU.

Armenia occupied the internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh for more than 30 years. In the autumn of 2020, Azerbaijan started liberating its territories and completed the process last September.

But tensions on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border reignited on Feb. 12, when Baku said one of its soldiers was injured from shots fired by Armenian forces toward the country’s southwestern Zangilan district

The following day, Azerbaijan said it carried out a “revenge operation” in response, destroying the combat post which fired at its soldiers. Armenia said four of its servicemen were killed.