Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced that Canada will contribute to the mission and send two recruited experts.
The mission follows heightened tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an area that is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians but is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan.
Canada has joined similar European Union missions in the past, with military and civilian projects deployed to places such as Afghanistan and the West Bank.
It also follows unconfirmed reports that Canada may loosen its arms embargo against Turkey, which Ottawa barred from receiving weapons after Canadian sensors showed up in drones Azerbaijan used in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a 2020 war.
Tensions rose in the area last fall, when the region’s main access road was blocked by groups of Azerbaijanis who insisted they were independent environmental activists opposed to mining.
The Azerbaijan government claims it has no ties to the groups, but others have disputed that assertion.
In recent months, the two countries have lowered the temperature in their long-running dispute, but access to the region is reportedly still limited, affecting the availability of food.
In April 2022, former foreign minister Stéphane Dion presented a report to Joly on supporting Armenian democracy, as part of his role as the Liberals’ special envoy for Europe.
The report said Ottawa should prioritize developing Armenia’s “fragile democracy” by helping efforts to fight corruption.
It noted that Russia’s influence in the region is waning as Moscow diverts military resources to its invasion of Ukraine, which has put some of its neighbours on edge.
