The European Union civilian monitoring mission in Armenia (EUMA) does not report its observations to the public or the Armenian government; everything it sees is reported to the EU headquarters in Brussels. Markus Ritter, the head of EUMA, who is completing his mission in Armenia, told this to a press conference Friday.

If EUMA observes shooting, it reports it. There was a case when EUMA monitors were not allowed to approach the border near the village of Nerkin Hand in Syunik Province. At that time, Russian armed forces prevented EUMA from carrying out its work in that area. But this ended last August, when the Russian border guards left. Since then, EUMA has free access to wherever it wants, Ritter said.

He added that some misinformation about the mission is coming from third parties. Moreover, the probability of misinformation is low, because EUMA only reports what it sees. It does not rely on information disseminated by any party; it only reports what it sees itself, Ritter noted.