French Ambassador: Armenia`s turn towards Europe does not mean  ignoring our regional environment

ArmInfo. Armenia wishes to draw closer to the European Union. French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier  Decottignies stated in an interview with the Defis Humanitaires online magazine.

As Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian told the European Parliament on  October 17, Armenia is ready to develop its relationship with the  European Union as far as the EU is prepared to go. Armenia welcomed  the prospect of EU membership opened up to Georgia a few weeks ago.  It also held a cooperation council with the European Union.

 "As Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian told the European Parliament on  October 17, Armenia is ready to develop its relationship with the  European Union as far as the EU is prepared to go", the diplomat  recalled.

"Armenia welcomed the prospect of EU membership opened up to Georgia  a few weeks ago. It also held a cooperation council with the European  Union," continued the French Ambassador.

At the same time, Decottignies believes that the European Union  observer mission in Armenia (EUMA) is a very good example of what the  European Union can do effectively and concretely.

" Having been out in the field on patrol with the mission, I've been  able to observe that European observers are warmly welcomed, that  they are greeted in a friendly manner in the villages and on the  roadsides, that their presence reassures.  They are proof, for these  vulnerable and isolated populations living in military contact zones,  that they are not forgotten by the world. In addition to this  reassuring role, the presence of this observation mission means that  the international community can obtain impartial information, which  is essential in a crisis of this nature. It helps to dispel the fog  of war," the diplomat assured.

To clarify how likely it is that EUMA could be mobilized more  specifically in the Syunik region, which seems particularly  threatened, the French Ambassador recalled that the mission's mandate  covers the whole of Armenia. So it can go anywhere.

"Its patrols focus primarily on border areas and military contact  zones. The mission's aim is to have sufficient manpower to increase  the number of patrols, and Syunik is obviously one of the priority  areas in this context.," the French diplomat said.

Regarding the likelihood of a new aggression by Azerbaijan against  Armenia against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts in the world, the  Ambassador admitted that he does not know what the intentions of the  Azerbaijani authorities are, since he has no contacts with them.

" But what I do know is that in this fragmented, degraded  international environment you describe, there have been several  military episodes in recent years involving Azerbaijan and Armenia,  or Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and that each time,  Azerbaijan has taken the initiative,"  he noted.

When asked how he sees Armenia's future, Decottignies noted in ppart:

"I see it looking towards Europe. This is the sense of the democratic  trajectory that the Armenian people chose during the "velvet  revolution" of 2018 and that they have maintained ever since, through  all the trials and tribulations. From this point of view, Armenia's  recent accession to the International Criminal Court is also a very  strong signal. However, turning towards Europe does not mean ignoring  our regional environment. Building Armenia's future requires reaching  a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, but also, more broadly, a modus  vivendi that enables all the states in the region to take full  advantage of their strategic position at the crossroads of Europe,  Asia and the Middle East. That's why the resolution of this conflict  is so important to us Europeans," the French diplomat summed up.