In an interview with the RFE/RL Azerbaijani service, the head of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia, Markus Ritter, speaking, in particular, about the firing at the EU monitors by Baku and targeting them at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, said that on that day they patrolled along the border, they heard gunshots, witnessed it, but they did not feel that they were a target and that they were in danger, Factor.am reports.

Asked whether the sending of the aforesaid mission to Armenia was discussed with Azerbaijan, Ritter said that this decision was made in Brussels and that European institutions have close ties with Armenia and Azerbaijan. He noted that cooperation was also offered to Baku.

Azerbaijan was offered at the first stage of planning. We are still trying to establish direct contact with Azerbaijani officials. One of the goals of the mission is to establish direct contact with Azerbaijan and open a liaison office in Baku, said Ritter.

He added that such proposals were made to Baku.

The head of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia said that their mandate is to reduce tension along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, to be neutral, and to reduce the number of incidents.

The European Union supports the peace negotiations and the peace process. If you are only talking to one side, it will take more effort to be neutral. Of course, it would be good to talk to the Azerbaijani side after the events and hear the story from them. Currently, if we see or notice something, we only hear a response from the Armenian side; this makes our work more difficult, Ritter said.

Also, he spoke about how they cooperate with the Azerbaijani side to avoid incidents.

Our only cooperation [with Azerbaijan] is that we send information to Brussels a week before a patrol, accompanied by the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and the border guards. The goal is that there is no misunderstanding, the Azerbaijani side knows in advance where we are going. There should be no surprises for either side, said Ritter.

Referring to the accusations made by Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev regarding manipulations, the head of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia said that they work transparently.

We do not do manipulations and are very careful in our statements. We just send our reports to Brussels. Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan receives these reports. There is no room for manipulation, and these reports are reviewed by Brussels, member states, and are used for peace negotiations. Therefore, I do not see a problem of manipulation here, said Markus Ritter.