If there is no Azerbaijani assault this spring, then the EU mission is a success, head of the EU mission in Armenia Markus Ritter says.
Many Armenians are glad about the EU presence, Ritter said in an interview with Deutsche Welle.
But he was quick to dampen expectations: observers are not permitted access to Azerbaijani territory. Ritter and his colleagues are therefore unable to detect, for instance, troop movements in preparation of another attack.
“We cannot interfere, we only have binoculars and cameras at our disposal,” Markus Ritter said.
“Many Armenians believe there’ll be a spring offensive by Azerbaijan. If this doesn’t happen, our mission is already a success,” he added.
The European Union launched the EU civilian mission in Armenia (EU Mission in Armenia / EUMA) on February 20 under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).
The EUMA was formally established by a Council Decision on 23 January 2023. Through its deployment on the Armenian side of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, the objectives are to contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence and human security in conflict affected areas, and ensure an environment conducive to the normalization efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan supported by the EU.
