Macron's Statement is Groundless: Hetq

French President Emmanuel Macron stated today in Yerevan during the 8th summit of the European Political Community, "Let’s be honest, 8 years ago no one would come here, and the fact that we have so many first visits to your country is indeed a good indicator, because 8 years ago this country was viewed as a de facto satellite of Russia by many countries around the table." This was reported by Hetq.

Macron's statement, made since he has been in office since 2017, is groundless, particularly when considering the visits made by senior officials from his country to Armenia prior to the regime change in 2018. According to the official website of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, French high-ranking officials have been visiting Armenia since 1996.

For instance, in June 1996, the President of the French Senate, René Monory, visited Armenia. Four months later, in October, French Foreign Minister Hervé de Charette also visited the country. De Charette returned to Armenia again in April 1997. These visits took place during the presidency of Armenia's first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

During Robert Kocharian's presidency, in July 1999, the President of the French Senate, Christian Poncelet, visited Armenia. It was not until September 2006 that the first French president, Jacques Chirac, visited Armenia. During Serzh Sargsyan's presidency, in October 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy, Chirac's successor, also visited the country. Sarkozy's successor, François Hollande, visited Armenia twice — in May 2014 and April 2015 (to participate in the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide).

Since Nikol Pashinyan took power in May 2018, visits by French officials to Armenia have become more frequent (the French president, the presidents of the Senate and National Assembly, the ministers of foreign affairs and European affairs, the minister of defense, and others have visited the country); however, this does not in any way justify Emmanuel Macron's statement that "eight years ago no one would come here." For more information, visit the original source.