ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Saturday


Newly appointed French Ambassador to Armenia presented credentials to
RA President

Yerevan October 14

Naira Badalyan. On October 13, the new Ambassador of France to
Armenia, Jonathan Lacote, presented credentials to Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan. The press service of the Armenian leader reports.

The President wished the diplomat success and expressed his hope that
the Ambassador will open a new page in Armenian-French relations with
his active work. The Armenian President and the French Ambassador
agreed that the privileged Armenian-French relations, developing in
ascending order, fully reflect the spirit of friendship between the
two peoples. Serzh Sargsyan considered symbolic the fact that the
newly appointed ambassador starts his mission in Armenia in the year
when Armenia and France celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic
relations.

Stressing that there is a stable political dialogue between the two
countries, active high-level interaction and mutual visits, Serzh
Sargsyan stressed the importance of intensifying trade and economic
relations between Armenia and France. The President of Armenia
stressed the role of the interparliamentary partnership in
strengthening and deepening interstate relations, noting with
satisfaction that the Armenian and French parliamentarians cooperate
effectively not only in bilateral formats, but also within the
framework of international parliamentary organizations. The President
of the Republic attached importance to the activity of the friendship
group established in 2013 in the French Parliament with
Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the meeting, the sides touched upon the prospects for the
development of Armenia-EU relations, including the preparatory work
for the signing of the Agreement on Comprehensive and Enhanced
Partnership in the near future in Brussels. Serzh Sargsyan stressed
the importance and appreciated the active participation of France in
the negotiation process for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict as a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Touching upon cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural spheres,
the Armenian President and the French Ambassador highly assessed the
summit of the International Organization of Francophonie countries,
which will be held in Armenia in 2018.

Lacote replaced Jean-Francois Charpentier, who held this position
since 2014. Earlier, the 45-year-old Lacote was the adviser to the
French ambassador to the UK, he also worked in the French Foreign
Ministry, in the bureau for Europe, at the French embassies in
Montenegro and Germany. Lacote speaks English, German, Russian,
Spanish, Estonian, Hungarian and Serbo-Croatian.