If Azerbaijan doesn’t attack Armenia this spring, EU mission to be deemed success – Markus Ritter

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. The head of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA), Markus Ritter, has said that Armenia not getting attacked this spring by Azerbaijan would be considered a success of the EU mission.

"Many Armenians believe there'll be a spring offensive by Azerbaijan. If this doesn't happen, our mission is already a success," Ritter told Deutsche Welle.

Many Armenians are glad about the EU presence, Ritter says.

The EU mission head added that observers are not permitted access to Azerbaijaniterritory.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,” Ritter said.

Spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizade criticized Ritter’s statement.

In a statement, Hajizade accused the EU mission leader of making statements based on “false and misleading” allegations by Armenia.

He added that the mission shouldn’t be "misused" to undermine the normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.