Ophelia Simonyan
Journalist, fact-checker

In January 2025, the mandate of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) was extended for another two years. Despite this decision, Armenia and Azerbaijan announced on March 13 that they had reached a final agreement on the draft peace treaty. One provision of this treaty stipulates that third-country forces will not be deployed along the border. The following day, March 14, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan assured that cooperative solutions would be established with the EU civilian mission after the signing of the agreement.

Official Baku has consistently criticized the activities of the EU civilian mission, claiming that it was deployed without Azerbaijan’s consent and is involved in espionage, potentially preparing for provocations. Moscow, like Baku, claims that the mission is gathering intelligence against Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan.

In this study, we aimed to determine the extent to which the positions of Russia and Azerbaijan regarding the EUMA align, as well as the narratives each side propagates regarding the mission’s activities.

Methodology

We analyzed 60 articles from eight Russian and Azerbaijani media outlets, comprising 30 articles from each group, which included both state-owned and government-friendly sources. Our review focused on articles related to the EUMA published between November 15, 2024, and February 15, 2025. These articles were identified using specific keywords and gathered through the Letsdata monitoring platform.

From Russian news sources, we have selected:

  • Sputnik Azerbaijan
  • TASS
  • RIA
  • Interfax

From Azerbaijani news sources, we have selected:

  • Azertag
  • Trend
  • Day
  • Haqqin

Background 

On October 6, 2022, the decision to deploy the EU civilian monitoring mission in Armenia was made during the quadrilateral meeting held in Prague. This meeting was convened in response to the escalating tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Following the discussions, 40 European civilian monitors were deployed to the Armenian side of the border for a period of two months.

The mission, which has a two-year mandate, was launched on January 23, 2023. It began with approximately 100 staff members from EU Member States, and by the end of its first year, the number of staff had increased to 209. The recently approved program has raised the mission’s budget for the two years to over €44 million.

The mission is coordinated by the European Union Civilian Operations Headquarters (CivOpsHQ) in Brussels. Its objectives are to reduce ceasefire violations along the border regions between Armenia and Azerbaijan while also enhancing the sense of security for the local population.

The observation site of the mission covers the entire Armenian-Azerbaijani border, including the Nakhichevan province. The European Union Foreign Minister’s Office has highlighted that, since the deployment of the monitoring mission, the number of armed incidents in the border areas has significantly decreased. The current Armenian authorities agree with this assessment. 

Below, you will find the main narratives disseminated by Russian and Azerbaijani media outlets regarding EUMA.

EU observers: “spies”

Russian news outlets have published six articles, while Azerbaijani outlets have published 17, promoting the narrative that the EU monitoring mission is engaged in anti-Azerbaijani, anti-Russian, and anti-Iranian activities, including espionage and intelligence gathering.

Azerbaijani websites published footage of the observers monitoring the border, but this did not in any way demonstrate that the mission was engaged in espionage.

In this context, it was noted that the presence of EU “armed” units poses a challenge for Turkey as well, as it contradicts the country’s strategic interests.

One of the sources for this thesis was Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both Russian and Azerbaijani media outlets reported her remarks.

This thesis was widely disseminated on Azerbaijani websites by reposting content from the Telegram channel Бакинский Бурила (Bakinskiy Burila), a Russian-language channel that primarily produces aggressive, anti-Armenian content.

Only two of the eight news outlets, Sputnik Azerbaijan and Haqqin, reported on the statement from the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani. He clarified that the EU mission in Armenia is not military and noted that Iran understands Yerevan’s explanations regarding their presence in the country. “The Armenian authorities explain the presence of the mission as an opportunity to maintain stability and prevent tension; this is understandable to us,” the ambassador stated during a press conference.

In an interview with the Swedish magazine Blankspot, Markus Ritter, the head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia, addressed the accusations regarding their operations. He stated that they inform Baku of their visit plans a week in advance. “We inform Baku about our plans one week in advance. This approach ensures they are aware of where we are and what we are doing, which helps prevent misunderstandings and potential incidents,” he explained.

The EU mission: a military structure

The claim that the EU monitoring mission is of a military nature is the second most widely circulated. During the period we studied, it appeared in five articles: one Russian and four Azerbaijani. The thesis has been accompanying the monitoring mission since its deployment. Media.am’s fact-checking team also addressed this in June 2024.

The websites under review referred to the mission as the “EU Armed Unit.” It was notably highlighted that the new mandate for the observers includes not only monitoring but also providing the mission with military equipment, specialized vehicles, and weapons. The goal is to establish both a political and military presence in the region.

Elchin Alyoglu from Trend.az reports that Brussels no longer conceals the fact that the mission will be equipped with modern military equipment and vehicles, and the personnel will have the right to carry firearms.

The EU Monitoring Mission, initially described as civilian and unarmed, monitors the Armenian side of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and reports on the situation to Brussels.

In March 2025, the official website of the mission published a list of available equipment. The only weapon listed is a combination knife.

After the mission was extended, it was officially reported that there were no changes in the type of activity being carried out. It was noted that the mission consists of 200 unarmed civilians, including observers and civilian experts from 25 EU member states. Additionally, since April 2024, Canada, a non-member state, has also joined the mission.

Markus Ritter, the head of the monitoring mission, addressed concerns about militarization in an interview with CivilNet on June 7, 2024. He stated, “I want to assure you that we have no hidden agenda. We are a civilian, unarmed mission. We are not what Russia claims we are. We are not a covert paramilitary unit or anything of that sort.”

EU observers: an obstacle to a peace treaty 

Russian 8 and Azerbaijani 5 news outlets reported that the EU mission in Armenia hinders a peace agreement. They claim that by inviting foreign troops to the region, Armenia is provoking a new war.

This narrative is commonly presented by Hikmet Hajiyev, an advisor to the Azerbaijani president. He claims that external interference in regional affairs negatively impacts the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

“The EU mission does not help in establishing peace in the region. The responsibility for achieving peace solely rests with Azerbaijan and Armenia. The presence of a third country on the border only increases tensions between the two nations and resembles a military intervention by the EU in the South Caucasus,” stated the Azerbaijani official.

According to the Azerbaijani side, Armenia violated the agreement made in Prague with the presidents of Azerbaijan, France, and the European Union Council, which specified that the mission was to be short-term.

The mission: A NATO unit and an Instrument against Russia

One of the primary narratives covered by Russian media in 10 articles and by Azerbaijani media in 7 is that the EU mission serves as a means to expand Western and NATO influence. It is highlighted that the deployment of peacekeepers along the border is viewed as a backstabbing to Russia.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Maria Zakharova introduced the thesis. The inclusion of observers from Canada is cited as evidence of establishing a “NATO infrastructure.”

France is using Armenia

A thesis suggesting that France is exploiting Armenia in its interests and inciting actions against Azerbaijan has appeared in three publications within the Azerbaijani press. The primary proponent of this narrative is Elchin Alyoglu, who is the head of the Baku Network expert platform and the deputy director of the Trend News Agency.

The Azerbaijani news outlet Day.az reprinted an article from the Baku Network, which stated that under France’s leadership, the EU monitoring mission had become a political tool. The article noted that France was intentionally escalating tensions in the region by using the rhetoric of a “barbarian attack.”

The media exhibited a notably negative attitude towards Olivier Decotin, the French ambassador to Armenia, who was the subject of satirical content.

Day.az, for example, reprinted a post from the Бакинский Бурила (Bakinskiy Burila) Telegram channel titled “Dekotin is more of a salad than a diplomat.” The post suggests that the ambassador may have lost his senses or suffered a concussion, as he has once again praised the “civilian” mission. According to the post, he noted that this mission “records incidents at the border” and “conducts investigations into violations.”

The next article about the ambassador, sourced again from Бакинский Бурила (Bakinskiy Burila), was titled “Can Olivier DeScotini Become a Virgin Again?” The author expressed outrage over the French ambassador’s visit to the border and his meeting with the EU monitoring mission.

Repetitive statements from experts and politicians

The views of experts and politicians about the EU mission in the monitored media were largely similar.

Below, you can see which politicians and experts have frequently commented on this topic and how closely their narratives align.

Out of the 30 articles published by Russian media outlets regarding the EU monitoring mission during the observed period, 16 included comments from Azerbaijani politicians or experts, while 8 featured insights from Armenian politicians or experts. Additionally, Russian and Belarusian politicians and experts also addressed the topic. The most frequently cited opinion was that of Alexander Tikhansky, a military-political analyst and senior researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, who is known for his distinctly anti-Armenian stance.

Our study uncovered that the narratives created in the state and pro-government media of Russia and Azerbaijan regarding the EU monitoring mission are largely similar. Both depict the EU mission as an hindrance to achieving a peace agreement and as a means for the West to bolster its military and political leverage in the region. Both Russian and Azerbaijani media outlets frequently reference each other to reinforce their viewpoints, creating a closed circle of opinions.

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