French legislator: France seeks to take action for benefit of process  of establishing peace in South Caucasus

ArmInfo. France seeks to take action for the benefit of the process of establishing peace in South Caucasus, unite the international community for the benefit of  a peaceful resolution which must include respect for Armenia's  territorial integrity, as well as ensure the rights and security of  the population of Nagorno Karabakh.

President of the National Assembly of France Yael Braun-Pivet stated in an interview with Armenpress News Agency.

So, to clarify what role can France have to make Azerbaijan open the  corridor, and to a request to express the attitude of the French side  to criticism from Baku, Yael Braun-Pivet again stressed that she came  to Yerevan with a parliamentary delegation to reiterate their  solidarity and brotherhood with Armenia and the Armenian people after  the resolution they adopted in November last year. 

She recalled that France has strongly condemned the closure of the  Lachin Corridor, as well as the violations against Armenia's  territorial integrity.  "French President Emmanuel Macron has twice  initiated debates about this situation in Armenia within the  framework of UN Security Council session. In October last year, the  quadrilateral meeting took place in Prague at his initiative which  resulted in a certain agreement. Meaning, France's efforts aren't  limited to the solidarity we state and display, but also very  concrete actions on the highest international level, the purpose of  which is to re-establish peace in this region.  One of the results of  this meeting on October 6 in Prague was the deployment of an EU  monitoring team along the border of Armenia which allowed reducing  tension. I think efforts in this direction must be continued with the  EU. In this regard we don't understand Azerbaijani president Aliyev's  criticism because France has always wanted to act for the benefit of  the process of establishing peace, for the benefit of stabilizing the  situation in South Caucasus and South Caucasus becoming a stable  region. And we believe that Azerbaijan also shares this goal of  establishing peace, thus actions that would lead to establishing  peace must be taken, particularly to open the Lachin Corridor and  release the prisoners of war who are still being held in Azerbaijan.   We are always ready to discuss with all parties because we believe  that peace can ensure continuous stability in the region," the  Speaker of the National Assembly of France stressed.

 It represents the position of the Members of Parliament. And even if  it's adopted unanimously, it's still nonbinding for the government.  While the government can have its own views and not entirely share  everything that's said in the resolution. Naturally, we and the  government have the same goals, even if the methods are different.  First of all, we continue dialogue with the government in order to  achieve a joint agreement, but our goal is one, that is - to achieve  the establishment of peace in the region with the measures which we  have at our disposal and taking into consideration our place and  role. But as you know, France is acting in very different platforms,  such as bilateral relations, or multilateral relations in European  platform.  And the purpose is to unite the international community  for the benefit of the peaceful resolution of this issue. And this  resolution must naturally include respect towards and preservation of  Armenia's territorial integrity, and protection of the rights and  security of the population of Nagorno Karabakh."

Referring to bilateral cooperation, she stated that the areas of  cooperation are very diverse and cover, among other things, the  economic sector.  

In this regard, the legislator drew attention to the fact that soon,  the French Development Agency will open a representative office in  Armenia.  

In conclusion, she noted that she was very happy to visit and get to  know Armenia. " I regret that I won't be able to stay longer. I hope  I'll have many other occasions to visit Armenia and that during my  next visit peace will be established for everyone," she summed up.