The Armenians in France expect President-elect Emmanuel Macron to pursue the policies of his predecessor, Francois Hollande, says Murad Papazyan, the president of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France.
Speaking to Tert.am, Papazyan said he highly appreciated Macron’s April 24 move to join the Armenian community in France to commemorate the Genocide victims.
“He talked to us of topics which were really important to us. As for the Armenian Genocide, we have to consider together what the next stage of our activities should be given that the French Constitutional Court has twice repealed the decision criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial. The other issue is to make the economic ties more active. We have told him that the [Nagorno-]Karabakh (Artsakh) issue should have a pro-Armenian solution. He seems to have agreed to that, but he put more emphasis on the fact that the OSCE Minsk Group is the only format capable of resolving the problem. He has to continue France’s efforts, focusing on a pro-Armenian solution. Also, Macron promised as that he would be opposed to Turkey’s membership in the European Union,” he added. Пропустить рекламу: 5 секПерейти на сайт рекламодателяРеклама 00
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Macron, the leader of the centrist political movement En Marche!, won by 66.06% to 33.94% on May 7 to become France’s youngest president at 39.
Papazyan said he expects the new president’s mandate to be positive only in case he shows commitment to his pre-election promises. “We must follow that Macron’s mandate is positive for the Armenians, the Armenian Cause and Artsakh,” he added.
Macron’s specifically promised the Armenian community to stand up against Turkey’s EU membership and assistance in the Armenian Genocide recognition efforts.
“With respect to Karabakh, we raised the issue of self-determination and unification,” he said, adding that they haven’t yet addressed the weapons sale to Azerbaijan. “We have considered the key issues without going to much into detail,” he said.
Papazyan added that the Armenians enjoy a high reputation and respect in France. “So we must continue our efforts. On the one hand, we have kind of two enemies which are big states, and on the other hand, we record victories in spite of them,” he added.
