RA MFA Press Spokesperson Ani Badalyan, in response to media inquiries, referred to the latest statements of the French Foreign Minister.
Question: On April 2, during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Sejourne, addressed the need and developments to ensure stability in the South Caucasus, Armenia’s real intention to avoid escalation, and also expressed concern about possible threats to RA’s territorial integrity. Some countries do not consider this perception of France useful from the point of view of regional stability. How will you comment?
Answer: We believe that the reference of the French Foreign Minister on April 2 and the goals and important contribution of France’s involvement in the process of establishing peace in the region are known to all partners. There are many examples of this regarding interaction with Armenia on bilateral, regional, regional, and multilateral platforms.
In the context under discussion, we can especially mention 2022. In October, the quadrilateral meeting was held in Prague within the framework of the European Political Community, during which the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan reaffirmed their loyalty to the 1991 Declaration of Alma-Ata. By the way, the Prague meeting and the Alma-Ata declaration are also mentioned in the press release of the Azerbaijani president’s office regarding the telephone conversation held yesterday with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
We value, of course, the contribution of France also as a member of the European Union, whose mission in 2022 since October, after the same Prague meeting, it has been monitoring the interstate border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and has issued relevant messages in recent days. We believe that activities and assessments in line with the mandate of the EU mission should be taken into account, including in the positions of all EU member states.
