Azerbaijan's Statements Will Have a High Cost: France Threatens to Expel Ambassador

The Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF) issued a statement on January 13 regarding Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's threats directed at Valérie Pécresse, the presidential candidate of France and the President of the Île-de-France region. Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan was not aware of Valérie Pécresse's visit to Nagorno-Karabakh, but had it known, it would clearly not have allowed her to leave Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to Armenpress, the CCAF specifically called on French authorities to demand an explanation and apology from Azerbaijan for such threatening statements made against the presidential candidate, and if none is provided, to recall its ambassador from Baku and expel the Azerbaijani ambassador from France.

French presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse herself commented in a media interview on the seriousness of such threats directed at a presidential candidate, emphasizing that the candidate should be free to go wherever they wish. Pécresse stated that these threats do not intimidate her; however, she is shocked by the French government's silence regarding the threats.

Pécresse expressed her desire for the French government to officially respond to the threats made by the president of a foreign state against a candidate in the French presidential elections. Valérie Pécresse visited Armenia and Artsakh from December 21 to 23, 2021, accompanied by former French Foreign Minister and former European Commissioner Michel Barnier, as well as the leader of the Republican faction in the French Senate, Bruno Retailleau.