16:08,

YEREVAN, MAY 15, ARMENPRESS. Observers from the EU monitoring mission (EUMA ) were not present on the ground during the latest Azerbaijani aggression in the direction of Sotk, Armenia, but the observers later visited the area, prepared a report and sent it to Brussels, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin said at a press conference when asked whether there is a report from EUMA on the latest aggression.

The reports are not shared with Armenia or Azerbaijan, she added.

“But, as the mission is accompanied by the officers of the Ministry of Defense, the Armenian side is well aware of what they see. Naturally, they cannot be everywhere. So, they can only monitor something, then they report back to Brussels. But they cannot report on things that they have not seen.  Which is a rather logical element. So far with the latest incursion and hostilities they were not present on the ground… when the incursion happened. You have quite a long border and there is a schedule of the patrols. It is also not an intention that they had to be there while something happens. They are monitoring the border and they see what they see around the border, but it does not mean that they are actually on the spot when something happens,” Wiktorin said when asked on the Azerbaijani aggression in Sotk.

Asked if the observers weren’t supposed to visit the area where an escalation had happened, Wiktorin said: “They had the opportunity later, after it was done, but you also have to see that the Armenian side has a responsibility for the security of the monitors, there can be also moments when we are advised to refrain from visiting a certain spot in a certain moment, but then afterwards they went and they made their own assessment which goes directly to Brussels.”

On May 12, Azerbaijani armed forces attacked Armenian positions deployed near Sotk and Kut, using mortars and UAVs. One Armenian soldier was killed.