EU mission head in Armenia says they are waiting on delimitation works

By Paul Vartan Sookiasian

Markus Ritter, the head of the European Union’s monitoring mission in Armenia, told CivilNet last week his observers are not currently patrolling sections of the border with Azerbaijan that are under delimitation, but plan to do so in the future. They also intend to go to areas they did not previously have access to, in light of this month’s withdrawal of Russian troops from Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan.

The EU first deployed unarmed civilian monitors to Armenia in the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s massive attack in September 2022. They have an initial mandate of two years, which will expire in February 2025, but can be extended. Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia have each repeatedly stressed their opposition to the mission.

Here are the highlights of Ritter’s conversation with CivilNet – the mission chief in his own words.

Click to see the full interview.

Q: In a landmark agreement last month, Yerevan and Baku formally agreed for the first time to delimit, or legally define, portions of the border along Armenia’s northeastern Tavush region and Azerbaijan’s Gazakh region. Are EU monitors patrolling those sections of the border?

A: At the moment, as long as there’s these very open and heated discussions, we will stay away from there, because we don’t want to somehow influence this process. It’s Armenia who has to deal with Azerbaijan. As soon as these things are settled and agreed, we will continue to patrol there…As soon as we know where exactly the border is and agreed to, we will continue.

Yes, that is what we are doing [disengaging for the duration of delimitation – ed.] because it started all these blockades and small demonstrations and whatever. And this is not on us to show up there and to be somehow trapped in this. This [delimitation – ed.] is an Armenian sovereign decision. The government has to deal with its people. They decide, we are following the policy. As soon as the government says it’s settled, we will continue.”

In February, clashes with Azerbaijani forces around Nerkin Hand village in Armenia’s southern Syunik region left four Armenian soldiers dead. At that time, EU observers were unable to access the village, as Russian troops were stationed on that portion of the border. Earlier this month, Russia agreed to withdraw its forces from Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan. Does the EU mission currently have access to Nerkin Hand?

We were there last July, and we were blocked for two hours [by Russian border guards – ed.], after which it was negotiated by the Armenian military to let us through. Afterwards, the situation deteriorated because of the events around Nagorno-Karabakh, so there was no possibility to go. Because of all these negotiations, we have stayed away. We don’t want to provoke the Russians, and we have so many kilometers to patrol. If it is not appropriate at the moment for the government, we stay away. But now with the pullout of the Russian border guards, we will go there when the retreat of the Russians is finalized. We don’t want to provoke any incidents, so we will wait until they have left and then start our patrols, because we have freedom of movement in the whole country.

How do you respond to repeated criticism from Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia, which have each said the mission amounts to outside interference in the region?

The reactions to this false information have to come from Brussels, and they’re coming, but always in a more moderate way than the accusations come…I can only convince you we don’t have a hidden agenda. We are a civilian observer mission, with most of us being police officers…We want to bring solutions to this conflict. We don’t want to confront somebody. That’s why if there is violence, war and somebody with force is trying to get us out, then it’s easy to get us out, because we are not what the Russians say. We are not a covert paramilitary unit or something like that.

What has the response been to the mission in border villages on the frontlines?

Everywhere we are going, the people are very happy to see us… We are the only international organization who also tries to reach the remotest places here. We aren’t just here in Yeghegnadzor or Kapan only, but we sometimes go up to 3,500 meters altitude to reach the remotest positions, and in valleys to reach the remotest farms and little villages. And for [their residents – ed.], if they see our cars coming with a European flag, yeah, that brings some hope, that at least there is a foreign international organization who shows interest and who is willing to listen to the people, who can talk about their various concerns. It works quite well.