FRENCH AMBASSADOR ABOUT THE KARABAKH TALKS

AZG Armenian Daily
14/07/2009

The Ambassador of France to Armenia, Serge Smessow, met reporters
in Yerevan on the eve of the National Day of France – the Bastille
Day. He assessed the Armenian-French relations as brilliant and
said the political and economic relations between the two countries
are developing. As the Ambassador of France, a co-chair country
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Serge Smessow commented on the statement
of Presidents Obama, Sarkozy and Medvedev released within the
framework of the G8 summit in Italy. "The statement encourages to
continue the negotiation process based on mutual concessions to
find a reasonable solution to the Karabakh conflict. It’s quite
clear to me that this is simply a demonstration of political will
on the highest level, a desire to reinforce the results achieved in
the negotiation process," the Ambassador said. Ambassador Smessow,
however, refrained from commenting on the statements of the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs. Non-use of force, territorial integrity and the right
for self-determination: a sign of equality should be put between these
three Madrid principles, the Ambassador considers. As for Turkey’s
stony path towards European integration, France has said many times
it opposes Turkey’s accession, but the talks still continue. The
Ambassador said he doubts about the results of those talks.