EU is Considering More Military Aid to Armenia, Diplomatic Sources Say

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—The European Union is considering allocating an additional 10 million euros ($10.5 million) in “non-lethal” military aid to Armenia through its European Peace Facility, a special fund aimed at strengthening the defense capacities of EU partners.

According to RFE/RL sources in Brussels, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has submitted such a proposal to the bloc’s decision-making Council.

The proposal is expected to be discussed in the coming weeks, though a specific date has not yet been set. To be approved, it must receive unanimous support from all of the EU’s 27 member states.

Armenia received its first-ever EU military aid, also worth 10 million euros, last July. The money was due to be spent over the next two-and-a-half years on creating a field hospital and auxiliary facilities for a battalion-size Armenian army unit.

Hungary for months blocked that allocation, demanding that similar aid also be provided to Azerbaijan, with which the central European country maintains close ties. Budapest reportedly dropped the veto in return for an EU pledge to finance de-mining activities in Azerbaijan from another source.

It remains unclear whether Hungary or any other member state will raise objections this time.

Earlier this year, the member states approved Kallas’s proposal to extend the EU’s monitoring mission along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan by two years. The mission strongly opposed by Azerbaijan and Russia was launched in February 2023 with the aim of preventing or minimizing ceasefire violations there.