Relations between France and Azerbaijan are worsening. The main reason for this is the hypocritical position of official Paris towards Baku and the South Caucasus as a whole. One of the clearest examples of this hypocrisy is the Elysee Palace’s attempt to overshadow the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku, or rather, the headquarters of Azerbaijan.
Before the aforementioned event, France took several provocative measures: sometimes it tried to create artificial tension in the region, sometimes it claimed that human freedoms were restricted in Azerbaijan, and sometimes it warned its citizens to visit the region.
Let us remember, by the way, that this topic was addressed in one of the arguments prepared by the Turkish television channel “Haber Global” on November 20. France, whose enmity towards Azerbaijan has not ended, was shown to be using all provocations to “undermine” COP29.
It was noted that, according to information from the global intelligence news agency “Intelligence Online”, Havas, one of the main subjects of France’s lobby, began working to “undermine” COP29: “It is wrong to organize COP29 for reasons that Azerbaijan is an oil country, lobbying activities are carried out in Europe, the United States and Russia, but as a result of Azerbaijan’s effective diplomacy and economic relations in the South Caucasus, France did not achieve the what I wanted.”
This is just one example of the partial position of the Elysee Palace towards Azerbaijan. In fact, the issue goes deeper. Thus, Emmanuel Macron’s government in France creates tension by using Armenia, which it can influence, to penetrate the region. Ultimately, this affects bilateral relations between France and Azerbaijan.
On November 20, the French ambassador to Azerbaijan, Ann Bouillon, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) for all this. During the meeting, on the eve of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) and during the session, France opposed the attack on Azerbaijan’s presidency.
“In this regard, calls to boycott this prestigious UN event hosted by Azerbaijan, France’s encouragement of many heads of state not to participate in the event, as well as France’s special efforts at the start of the COP29 conference, who unjustifiably criticized our presidency “In the European Parliament and in the general climate it was highlighted that the adoption of the resolution, which goes against our global efforts in the field of combating changes, is unacceptable”, – it is said in the information.
Furthermore, the ambassador’s attention was drawn to the fact that the actions of France, which is extensively arming Armenia, promoting militarism and revanchism, are a blow to the peace process.
“France has insisted on putting an end to these measures directed at Azerbaijan and which endanger the normalization process,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ambassador’s summons to the ministry was actually a timely message and warning to France. Therefore, official Paris must understand that it is the cause and the culprit of the deterioration of bilateral relations with Baku.
As is known, today the chances of peace between Baku and Yerevan are greater than ever. Relations between the parties are gradually normalizing. This worries France, which has destructive interests in the region. The development of military relations with Armenia, arms policy and attempts to create a new conflict in the region are aimed at preventing a possible peace.
The problem of France’s current power is not only related to Azerbaijan and the region.
The neocolonialist policy of official Paris, the violation of democratic traditions in the country, including police violence, in short, the failures in domestic and foreign policy reduce the prestige of this country in the entire world.
It is no coincidence that leftists in France have restarted the impeachment procedure for Macron. Furthermore, according to the latest information, just over half of French people (51%) are in favor of a motion of censure against Michel Barnier’s Government. This means that even local residents are unhappy with the Elysée Palace.
They say that Gozbeli makes a grave. The policy of the French authorities towards the South Caucasus and Azerbaijan is unlikely to change. The non-objective approach and biased position is expected to continue. As a result of this Paris policy, tension in bilateral relations is likely to increase even further in the future. This will not only minimize the chances of the Elysée Palace in the region, but will also create problems for the direction of French foreign policy in the current difficult geopolitical situation. At least because Azerbaijan is one of the actors that play an important role in Europe’s energy security.
Information Agency “Informe”