Understanding the European Union Monitoring Mission in Armenia

Head of the European Union Mission to Armenia, Markus Ritter, leads a growing team of over a hundred border monitors and staff. They patrol Armenia’s more than 600-mile-long border with Azerbaijan as an impartial broker, observing the status on the ground. Though the unarmed mission hopes to build confidence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the latter has reacted to it with hostility, and along with Russia has vilified its presence with baseless accusations. Despite it all, Ritter and his team continue their mission with an eye to a more peaceful future for the region.