On November 10, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in Paris on a working visit, met with President of the Senate of the French Republic Gérard Larcher.
The interlocutors warmly recalled the visit of the delegation led by the President of the French Senate to Armenia in April of this year, the effective discussions held in a direct and friendly atmosphere.
The parties discussed issues related to security and stability in the South Caucasus region. Minister Mirzoyan highlighted the unconditional support of the French parliamentarians to Armenia, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the Armenian people during the 44-day war and the post-war period.
Ararat Mirzoyan once again thanked the friendly France, in particular, the French Senate for the Resolution ‘On the Need for Recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh’ adopted on November 25, 2020 which demonstrates the French people's commitment to human rights and universal values, is crucial to a just settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
It was stressed during the conversation that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved comprehensively and effectively through peaceful negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing mandate.
They also referred to the humanitarian problems caused by Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh. Both sides stressed the need for Azerbaijan to release Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees in accordance with its commitments.
The interlocutors also discussed the issue of protection of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage of Artsakh in the territories under the control of Azerbaijan. In this regard, the visit of the UNESCO assessment mission to Artsakh was highlighted, which has not taken place so far due to the destructive behavior of Azerbaijan. Ararat Mirzoyan noted that international humanitarian organizations should have uninterrupted access to Artsakh, emphasizing the inadmissibility of attempts to politicize humanitarian issues.
Ararat Mirzoyan and Gérard Larcher expressed satisfaction with the close cooperation between the two countries at the inter-parliamentary level, which is one of the key pillars of the Armenian-French privileged relations, in which the friendship groups formed in the Armenian and French parliaments have a significant contribution.
The high level of Armenian-French cooperation was also mentioned in multilateral platforms, including the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
