France Will Attach Greater Importance to Armenia and Artsakh, Says Gaytz Minasian

With the assumption of the presidency of the European Union Council, France will automatically attach greater importance to the issues of Armenia and Artsakh, not only as a friendly country of Armenia and a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group but also now as the presiding country of the European Union.

In an interview with Armenpress, Gaytz Minasian, an expert from the Paris Institute of Political Studies and a French-Armenian political scientist, emphasized that Armenia's diplomacy must be very active in the upcoming six months to achieve results.

“France has long acknowledged the importance of both Armenia and Artsakh, as it is a friendly country to Armenia and one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Hence, France must naturally give greater importance to Armenia and Artsakh now at the level of the EU presidency. This means that France should have greater leverage in the next six months and should utilize the context of presidential elections to ensure that Armenia and Artsakh receive more attention. However, this does not mean that we should sit idle and do nothing. On the contrary, Armenia’s diplomacy, the Armenian government, and the Armenian ‘soft power’ must be more dynamic during this period in order to receive what is possible, and why not, a bit more,” Minasian stated to Armenpress.

According to the political scientist, both France’s presidency in the EU and the presidential elections in France in April present a unique opportunity for Armenians and Armenia to advance the issues concerning Armenia in cooperation with Emmanuel Macron, who is well-informed about the Armenian issues, towards peace and stability in the region, the return of Armenian prisoners, and several other matters.

Minasian noted that the visit of French presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse to Artsakh in December has further enhanced the significance of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue within the context of France’s electoral campaign, but it remains unclear what President Macron will say or do regarding this issue and what the other candidates will express. Therefore, making predictions is currently challenging.

Since January 1, 2022, France has held the presidency of the European Union Council for a six-month term. This status is rotated among EU member states once every 13 years. Emmanuel Macron, as the leader of France, effectively becomes the leader of the union of 27 European member states, presenting an ambitious agenda, declaring this period as a time for progress for Europe.

On January 3, the Embassy of the French Republic in Armenia announced that by assuming the presidency of the European Union Council, France will continue to work towards establishing peace and stability in the region, as well as strengthening Armenia-EU cooperation.

Valérie Pécresse, representing the Republicans in the upcoming presidential elections in April, who is also the leader of the Île-de-France region, visited Yerevan in December and subsequently traveled to the Republic of Artsakh, meeting with the President of Artsakh Araik Arutyunyan and Foreign Minister Davit Babayan in Stepanakert. In Yerevan, Pécresse told reporters that France could play a role in the resolution process of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue through several platforms, and as the president of the EU Council, France has an important role in convincing other EU countries to become more involved in resolving the issues of this region.