Obviously, the French Senate’s resolution on the necessity to recognize the "independence of Nagorno-Karabakh" is full disrespect for the four resolutions of the UN Security Council, all voted by France in 1993, said Maxime Gauin, French historian on Ottoman Empire and Armenian issue.

Maxime Guain commented on Eurasia Diary portal about the French Senate’s unbiased decision on Karabakh.

Previously, French historian talked about the strength of the Armenian Lobby in France and its role in the political society of his country.

He said that the Armenian Lobby is not as strong as what imagined in Azerbaijan and Turkey.

“There is a myth in Azerbaijan and Turkey about “the strength of the Armenian lobby in France.” The Coordination Council of France’s Armenian associations has not even enough money to maintain its Web site. Most of the nationalist Armenian web sites and newspapers have disappeared in France now. However, Armenian associations definitely played a role in the introduction of the bill and in the vote of some dozens of senators but not in the results.  For a part of the right-wing senators, this is primarily an issue of domestic policy, to embarrass the cabinet (as France never recognized “republic of Nagorno-Karabakh” and will not). Regarding the Socialist senators, this is primarily a lack of knowledge. In 2011, there was a strong action of information against the Masse bill (supposed to ban the “denial of the Armenian genocide”). Only a minority of the Socialist senators voted for it and it was rejected. Besides the Socialist Party, the main strength of the Armenian nationalists is that they are often the only one to speak to journalists, politicians, etc,” Gauin said.

Expressing an opinion on the French Senate’s decision, Guain said that this act of French senators is full disrespect for International Law and 1993 resolutions of the UN Security Council.

 “Obviously, this is a full disrespect for the four resolutions of the UN Security Council, all voted by France in 1993. But in addition to that, there is a kind of contempt for the Constitution, as the recognition of a state is the monopoly of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ultimately, there is also a kind of hypocrisy, as the demands for “the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh” did not start in 2020 and began to increase during the war. It is only after the ceasefire and the military victory of Azerbaijan,” he noted.   

In addition, French historian commented on Armenian aggression against innocent civilians of Azerbaijan in the period of six weeks of the war. He does not agree with the opinion that there is ignorance in France to brutal and inhuman crimes committed by the Armenian side against the peaceful population living in the cities of Azerbaijan.

 “Ignorance is exaggerated. After the bombing of Ganja and even more after the ceasefire, the part of the French media (the clearest example being Le Monde in Italic, which shifted from propaganda on the “Syrian mercenaries” to reports on the fate of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons) prepared reports on Armenian attacks. But have these articles been sufficiently read? Has the broadcast been sufficiently watched? I am not sure,” he stressed.

Furthermore, Gauin touched upon the exclusion of France from the OSCE Minsk Group.

“I did not see a bright future to the Minsk group as such before this resolution. The vote of yesterday only confirmed the worsened situation for the Minsk group. If something can be saved, which is dubious, it can be due only to concrete actions of France to counterbalance the disastrous psychological effect of the resolution adopted yesterday,” he emphasized.