Recent signs of increased war preparations by Azerbaijan deeply worry European Friends of Armenia and require international attention. We have observed greatly intensified activities in three areas: 1. Increased lobbying and propaganda activities 2. Increasingly obstructive peace negotiation strategies coupled with public war threats 3. Increased military acquisitions Numerous examples back up these points, some of which are listed below. The key question, however, is whether Europe is... Read more

On 16 November, European Friends of Armenia and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, www.agbu.org) held a joint policy briefing at EuFoA's Brussels office with Mr Armen Harutyunyan, Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia and Ms Jacqueline Hale (Open Society Institute) as discussant. The NGOs present commended the Ombudsman's contribution to the democratisation process in Armenia and his frank and credible analysis. "Like many other post-Soviet countries, Armenia has not... Read more

Փաստաթղթերը հայերեն լեզվով կարդալու համար խնդրում ենք սեղմել այստեղ   Please click here to download the press release and the Executive Summary in pdf format. Please click here to download the press release and the Executive Summary in German. Today, European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) is publishing the Armenia poll of the first ever internationally conducted Comparative Opinion Polls in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh on... Read more

Today, European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) publishes its latest policy paper "A closer look at the EU-Armenia Association Agreement negotiations" on its website at www.eufoa.org/publications.   This paper is, amongst others, the result of a round table on the Association Agreement negotiations, organised by EuFoA in July with Mr Gunnar Wiegand, Director for Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia at DG Relex in the European Commission, who is chief negotiator for the talks... Read more

The EP strongly supports the OSCE and renewed efforts for a cease fire consolidation in Nagorno-Karabakh, concludes a new short paper published by European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) today. The short paper is entitled "Europe's options in Nagorno-Karabakh. An analysis of views of the European Parliament" and can be downloaded on the EuFoA website at www.eufoa.org/publications. This paper combines the result of a poll among 100 MEPs carried out by the British company ComRes in the European... Read more

European Friends of Armenia has issued a call upon the EU to continue its support for the OSCE Minsk Group peace negotiations amid a new UN initiative on a Nagorno-Karabakh resolution recently launched by Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani draft resolution to be discussed at the UN General Assembly on Thursday 9 September is expected to be voted against by the three Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, France, Russia and the USA. But according to EuFoA's sources, a common response by all EU countries is not... Read more

On 22 July, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence. The ICJ ruled that a declaration of independence does not violate any UN resolution or international law if the UN has not expressis verbis prohibited such a declaration of independence in a UN resolution. The ICJ ruling will have an influence on the Karabakh conflict, since it provides more legal clarity on the interpretation of peoples' right to... Read more

During the night from 18 to 19 June, a shooting incident took place on the contact line in the Mardakert region. The incident resulted in casualties - 4 Armenian soldiers and 1 Azerbaijani were killed and 4 more Armenian soldiers are reported to be injured. After meetings with security experts, NGO representatives and officials in Nagorno-Karabakh (N-K), EuFoA Secretary General Michael Kambeck concluded: "this was a dangerous and risky manoeuvre, apparently initiated by Azerbaijan. It looks... Read more

The first meeting of the Europe-Armenia Advisory Council took place on 28-30 May in Larnaca, Cyprus. The meeting, chaired by Mr Ioannis Kasoulides, MEP and Vice-Chair of the EPP Group, focused on perspectives of the EU-Armenia partnership, especially in the context of the forthcoming Association Agreement negotiations, as well as the situation in the region. Guest participants were Mr Takis Hadjigeorgiou and Ms Antigoni Papadopoulou, MEPs from Cyprus. In this context, the High... Read more

This week, the European Union published two reports which are relevant for Armenia. According to these, the overall state of Armenia's relations with Europe is better than it has ever been before and looks set to improve further. European Friends of Armenia welcomes the widely supportive nature of the reports and provides a summary of the most relevant points, including one point currently critically debated in Armenian media:   The European Parliament resolution, voted yesterday (20... Read more