The foreign ministers of European Union member states last week gave the “green light” for sending a hybrid threat rapid response team to Armenia. This was reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing its Brussels sources.
The rapid response team is arriving at the request of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. According to official information, the team will arrive in Armenia ahead of the parliamentary elections with the aim of countering “hybrid threats.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing its sources, reported that the mission will consist of 9 to 14 people.
Even before the mission’s arrival, various senior Armenian officials have continued to speak about hybrid or “mixed” wars being waged against Armenia, the ultimate goal of which is allegedly to interfere in Armenia’s domestic political processes. A number of MPs from the Civil Contract party have, during briefings, accused journalists of participating in these so-called “wars.”
Some have also spoken of dangers emanating from the north, without specifying which country is waging a hybrid war against Armenia, but with a clear allusion to Russia. Moreover, the suggestion that the so-called hybrid threats may originate, at least in part, from Russia has been explicitly noted at the level of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, at a meeting with Mirzoyan last year, also made no secret that when speaking of hybrid threats, the EU has Russia primarily in mind.
According to Hayk Ayvazyan, head of the Luys analytical center, the EU, by raising alarm about an invisible danger emanating from Russia, is attempting to steer Armenian voters in a particular direction: “Russia is threatening your democracy, so go out on June 7 and vote for the force that stands against centuries-old Armenian-Russian relations.”
In the view of political commentator Hakob Badalyan, the situation is unprecedented: “A structure with a foreign mandate is intervening in the Republic of Armenia’s electoral process.” Badalyan notes that a great many geopolitical centers have certain interests in Armenia’s domestic political processes, yet it is only the EU that has been given the opportunity to intervene in them.
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