There is still no decision to extend the term of the European Union civilian monitoring mission in Armenia (EUMA). Marek Kuberski, the adviser to the head of this mission, Markus Ritter, informed about this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

They are working on it. Their colleagues in Brussels prepare it in consultation with all EU capitals, as all 27 EU members will make the decision in that regard. The EUMA already had consultations with the Armenian authorities and the Armenian civil society organizations. So now the decision about the EUMA’s future is being prepared. Its mandate ends on February 19 next year, so they have to decide what to do next, Kuberski said.

To the question why Azerbaijan demands the withdrawal of the EU monitors from Armenia, and who is worried about the presence of these monitors, Kuberski responded that They are suffering from these media attacks from the Azerbaijani side. They have no direct link with the Azerbaijani side, so sometimes they find it difficult to explain, but they certainly try to explain that their mandate is to contribute, to create a better, safer environment for people to contribute to the reduction of incidents on the border in order to increase the sense of security of people living on the border, trying to contribute to the strengthening of trust between the authorities and the population of Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is their goal, this is what they are doing. They are a civilian, unarmed mission that is monitoring the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and reporting this situation to their civilian mission commander in Brussels.