Macron: France “stands firmly” with Armenia “in face of pressure from Azerbaijan”September 26, 2024 - 18:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - France “stands firmly” with Armenia “in the face of pressure from Azerbaijan,” French President Emmanuel Macron said late on Wednesday in a speech at the UN General Assembly, RFE/RL's Armenian service reports. Macron briefly mentioned Armenia in the context of “the all too long list of forgotten wars, unjust victories, poorly negotiated resolutions” of conflicts around the world. “The international community must be there to ensure that peace negotiations are successful and that internationally recognized borders are preserved,” he said. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned Macron’s remarks that highlighted France’ close relationship with Armenia. A ministry spokesman said France must end its “unconstructive actions in our region.” He also accused Paris of “heavily arming and preparing Armenia for revanchism.” Baku earlier denounced French-Armenian defense contracts signed over the past year. They call for the sale of French-manufactured radars, artillery and short-range air-defense systems and armored personnel carriers to the Armenian military. In particular, the latter is reportedly due to receive 36 CAESAR self-propelled howitzers by the end of next year. Armenian leaders say these and other arms acquisitions are designed to counter a continuing Azerbaijani military buildup. They argue that oil-rich Azerbaijan’s defense budget is more than twice bigger than Armenia’s. Visiting Yerevan earlier this month, then French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne defended France’s deepening military ties with Armenia. He urged Baku to reciprocate Yerevan’s desire to promptly sign a peace deal that would commit the two South Caucasus nations to recognizing each other’s borders. Sejourne’s newly appointed successor, Jean-Noel Barrot, called for a “just and lasting peace in the South Caucasus” after talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan held at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday. In an X post, he also voiced support for “the sovereignty and resilience of Armenian democracy.” The Armenian Foreign Ministry reported that Mirzoyan and Barrot discussed “joint efforts to deepen [French-Armenian] cooperation” as well as “regional developments.” “We are moving towards building strategic relations,” the ministry quoted Mirzoyan as saying during the talks. Top stories The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, have arrived in Washington. The CSTO budget for the current year requires adjustments due to the refusal of Yerevan to pay their share of contributions. Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Partner news | Viva sees growing demand for cloud services In recent years, medical institutions are starting to make use of Viva’s cloud services Turkey replacing term "Central Asia" with "Turkestan" in textbooks The Turkish Ministry of Education is replacing the term "Central Asia" with "Turkestan" in textbooks. Armenia assumes presidency of Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities The Commission on Television and Radio of Armenia said it expects productive cooperation in various formats. Balance of attached cards in the Idram&IDBank app From now on, users will be able to view the online balances of cards issued by ArCa system banks and attached to the app. |