EU Council Provides Assistance to Armenian Army for the First Time in History
On Monday, the Council of Europe decided to provide €10 million in support to the Armenian armed forces.
This was reported by the press service of the EU Council.
The assistance will be provided under the European Peace Fund. This is the first such decision for Armenia.
The aim is to strengthen the material and technical capacity of the Armenian armed forces and to help improve the protection of civilians in crises and emergencies.
The support is also aimed at increasing Armenia's resilience and accelerating the interoperability of its armed forces in the event of the country's possible future participation in international military missions and operations, including those deployed by the EU.
The measure will provide a fully deployed tent camp for a battalion-sized unit.
Last week, the EU ambassadors gave the green light to start a visa-free dialogue with Armenia and for the first time in history agreed to allocate military aid to the country from the European Peace Fund.
Earlier, the decision to allocate funds to Armenia under the European Peace Fund was blocked by Hungary.
This decision of the EU Council is important given Armenia's gradual intention to move closer to the European Union and away from Russia.
As The Gaze previously reported, Armenia and NATO have agreed on a cooperation programme for 2024 and outlined prospects for cooperation for 2025.