Regardless of talks, Armenia and Azerbaijan are preparing for an emergency, Head of EU Mission says

YEREVAN — Regardless of the talks, Armenia and Azerbaijan are preparing for an emergency, says Markus Ritter, the head of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA).

According to the Head of EU Mission, Azerbaijan is making no attempt to vacate the Armenian territory in advanced into after the 2020 war. “We don’t see that happening,” Markus Ritter said in an interview with
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

For the German federal police officer in his early 60s, the EU mission in Armenia, which he took over in February last year, is the sixth foreign mission after missions in Kosovo, Georgia, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Iraq. Ritter and his team have their headquarters in the nearby town of Yeghegnadzor, where they have moved into a hotel. There are also bases in five other Armenian towns. The EUMA currently has a total of 137 international employees from 24 of the 27 member states and 15 Armenian colleagues; the number is set to increase to 209 in total. The unarmed, civilian observers patrol every day and in all weathers, documenting what they see. However, their reports and photos are only intended for the headquarters in Brussels.

According to the source, in Baku, the mission has been accused of “Azerbaijanophobia,” among other things, and an adviser to Aliyev called for its withdrawal in August. EUMA director Ritter says, however, that his observers have never been threatened.

The head of Mission says at the beginning some Armenians were disappointed that the EU observers were not peacekeepers. “That has changed, the Armenians see us as protectors,” Ritter says.

They are welcome everywhere. “People are happy that we are here,” he adds. In April, for example, the EUMA showed its presence at the sowing of seeds in the border village of Khachik at the request of the villagers. They hoped this would bring peace after they had been shot at by the Azerbaijani side two years ago.