MP: Exposing spies in Azerbaijan testifies to France’s failed policy

Azerbaijani MP Elnur Allahverdiyev has said that one of the spheres in which France failed most of all in 2023 is its policy in the South Caucasus.

“The recent incident - the exposure of the French spies in Azerbaijan clearly testifies to this,” Allahverdiyev told Report.

“There are several reasons for all this. The main reason is that France is an alien actor in the region, trying to artificially gain a foothold here. Secondly, it takes an unfair position and also opposes reality. The reality is that France wants to gain a foothold in Armenia, which is the weakest link in the region,” he noted.

The MP stressed that Armenia has no tools to influence the ongoing processes in the region, it is only observing the current situation.

“However, France hopes that by providing the Armenians with several armoured fighting vehicles that have been previously used, it can become an important player here. Until normal relations with Azerbaijan are established, France must not hope for political success in the South Caucasus. Moreover, Paris cannot hope that its relations with Central Asia will be successful without Baku,” he said.

Allahverdiyev said that Azerbaijan has not yet given an equivalent response to the actions taken by France against it.

“For example, the French oil giant still has the status of a business partner in Azerbaijan. In other words, Azerbaijan demonstrates to France and the whole world that it stands for civilised relations, policy within the rules, although it has enough levers. France has become a toy for Armenians and a group of pro-Armenian chauvinist politicians. Paris has no effective levers of influence. France tried to influence Azerbaijan at the international level, in bilateral relations, but it failed,” the MP added.

Earlier, on December 26, French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Bouillon was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

The ambassador was informed that the Azerbaijani government declared two employees of the French Embassy "persona non grata" for activities contrary to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and not corresponding to their diplomatic statuses, Caliber.Az reported, citing the ministry.

Those persons were requested to leave the territory of Azerbaijan within 48 hours, and the relevant protest note of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was presented to the French ambassador.