Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan concluded his visit to France, which was the first one since his party’s victory in the June parliamentary elections and the worsening of relations with Russia over the unresolved question of Yerevan’s choice between the EU and the EAEU. His meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, who paid a state visit to Armenia in May and took part in the 8th summit of the European Political Community, demonstrated the strengthening alliance between Yerevan and Paris and Armenia’s pro-European course. The talks in Paris showed that the French leader remains Armenia’s main lobbyist within the European Union.
The formal reason for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s latest visit to Paris was an invitation to attend the International Space Summit, held in the French capital on September 9-10. But the real story goes much deeper than space. The worse relations between Russia and Armenia become, the more Armenia’s attention turns toward Europe.
France remains one of the EU countries supporting Armenia’s integration into the union, as Yerevan seeks to reduce its dependence on the Russian market, logistics and energy system. It is also interesting that literally on the eve of Pashinyan’s trip to Paris, France changed its ambassador in Yerevan. On September 5, Florian Escudier took up his post, replacing Olivier Decottignies, during whose tenure French-Armenian military cooperation became particularly active.
The choice of his successor was also quite telling. Escudier had previously worked, among other things, on strategic security and cybersecurity issues. The new ambassador himself quickly explained what he intended to focus on in Yerevan.
On September 7, he said he wanted to bring relations between the two countries to an "unprecedented level," specifically naming economic diplomacy and defense cooperation among his priorities. So, after the declarations made in May, Paris appears ready to move toward more practical cooperation. One of the first such projects is expected to be the Bargushat Tunnel.
It will become part of the Sisian-Kajaran section of the North-South corridor and will significantly improve connections between central Armenia, Syunik and, further south, Iran. Yerevan hopes this will allow it to maintain a reliable route to the south and reduce its dependence on future transport links through Azerbaijan. The strengthening of relations with France, with which Armenia has historically maintained close ties, takes on particular importance in the context of the Armenian government’s broader pro-European course.
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