French Foreign Minister Visits Armenia Amid Concerns Over Nagorno-Karabakh

This is the first visit by a Western official since Azerbaijan launched a military campaign to take control of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ngoại trưởng Pháp Catherine Colonna đang có chuyến thăm Yerevan trước lo ngại về những khó khăn Yerevan gặp phải trong vấn đề Nagorno-Karabakh. (Nguồn: Reuters)

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is visiting Yerevan amid concerns over Armenia's difficulties in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. (Source: Reuters)

On October 3, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna traveled to Yerevan to assess Armenia's urgent needs in the face of the influx of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and the threat posed by Azerbaijan's military operations in the region.

The Nagorno-Karabakh issue is a sensitive one in Paris. A week after Baku seized control of the breakaway region, forcing more than 100,000 people to flee, lawmakers from across the political spectrum have criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s government for not doing enough to help ethnic Armenians.

At the same time, many French lawmakers fear that a softer stance on Nagorno-Karabakh could lead Paris to abandon Armenia and push Azerbaijan closer to Armenia’s border. France has an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 people of Armenian descent, a powerful electoral lobby.

France and its Western allies are concerned that Armenia and its current government may give up, after Yerevan's key ally Russia appeared to abandon the country in recent weeks.

So far, France has provided a humanitarian aid package worth 12.5 million Euros to Armenia, while Mr. Sebastien Lecornu - the country's Defense Minister announced on September 30 that Paris is ready to provide military support depending on Yerevan's needs.

French officials also supported the idea of the European Union (EU) imposing sanctions on Baku, but admitted that some member states were reluctant to do so, just a year after the EU agreed on a major energy deal with Baku to replace Russian supplies.

EU officials are currently holding talks in Brussels on the Nagorno-Karabakh situation. Meanwhile, France announced that it would strengthen a European civilian mission along the border, in anticipation of new military moves by Baku.

At the same time, the country's diplomatic officials emphasized that ensuring security for Armenia is also "extremely important" at this time, regardless of whether help comes from any country such as the UK, US or France.

Source