Response of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada to the question on the statement of the head of the European Union Mission in Armenia Markus Ritter

Question: In an interview published in the German newspaper Deutsche Welle, Markus Ritter, the head of the European Union (EU) Mission in Armenia, stated that "Armenia claimed that Azerbaijan was preparing for an attack in the spring" and that "if there is no such attack, it will be a success of the EU Mission." How would you comment these allegations?

Answer: We strongly condemn the fact that the head of the EU Mission, stated based on the false and misleading allegations of Armenia that Azerbaijan is allegedly preparing for some sort of an attack, and presented the main task of the EU Mission as "protecting Armenia from Azerbaijan".

We have repeatedly emphasized the need to prevent this Mission from being misused to undermine the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It should be ensured that the presence of the EU mission in Armenia takes into account the legitimate interests of Azerbaijan, as well as that the activities of this mission are carried out by the EU in a way that does not undermine mutual trust and confidence.

Armenia should not be allowed to abuse the presence of the EU Mission to aggravate the situation and evade its obligations.

The EU Mission should not make false and slanderous allegations and should act according to its mandate.