A European Union (EU) Rapid Response Team will arrive in Armenia in early April, reports Azatutyun, the RFE/RL’s Armenian service, based on a document it has obtained.

It is noted that the group of experts in this Rapid Response Team will consist of 9-14 people.

The aforesaid document states that this Rapid Response Team will spend 10-15 days in Armenia, and it will help the Armenian Prime Minister’s Office and the Security Council develop a plan and regulations for managing crises in situations of cyberattacks and foreign information manipulation.

The beneficiaries of this assistance will also be the Central Electoral Commission, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the tax authorities of Armenia.

As per the aforementioned document, the EU believes that Armenia has faced intensive hybrid actions aimed at undermining democratic institutions and public trust. These activities include foreign information manipulation and interference, cyber threats, and illegal funding of electoral processes.

It is highly likely that these threats will intensify in the run-up to Armenia’s parliamentary elections on June 7, adds the document approved by the EU Council of Europe.

It is clear from the document that Armenia appealed to the EU last November, an assessment team from the EU arrived in Armenia in January, and that the visit gave a vivid picture of the country’s vulnerability to hybrid threats. The document, however, does not provide any specific examples.

Earlier, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas also announced that Armenia had asked the EU to counter foreign interference in the upcoming elections. In response, the EU had announced its readiness to allocate 12 million euros, which are intended to be used to combat external information manipulation and interference and strengthen cybersecurity.