A meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Paruyr Hovhannisyan, with those forcibly displaced from Artsakh – this was the agenda of the visit to Armenia by the Thierry Kovacs, Vice-president of the French Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Province, and Mayor of Vienne and Deputy Mayor Levon Sakunts of Armenian nationality. French officials first visited Syunik the other day. French Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Province and Syunik Region are friends, and Kovacs hands the Governor Robert Ghukasyan the letter of the Province’s President, Laurent Fauquier.
Fauquier also asked to warmly greet the people of Syunik and the forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh. “What you have done here in a few days, welcoming Artsakh citizens to your region, positively surprised us, and it should be noted that every such event is an impetus to strengthen the Armenian-French connection further and increase the support from France,” Thierry Kovacs said.
On these days last year, Syunik Region Governor Robert Ghukasyan was in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Province of France, and by the decision of the provincial council, 300,000 euro was allocated to Syunik Region to alleviate the consequences of the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan in September 2022.
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The other day, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes State Council adopted a new decision to double the amount to 600,000 euro. The administration of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Province has condemned the forcibly displacing of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, describing it as ethnic cleansing. All the political forces in the state council voted to favor this resolution. “Every time Azerbaijan attacks Armenia, it should become a rule for France to strengthen our ties and cooperation with Armenia,” assured Thierry Kovacs.
The French officials discussed with the regional government the areas and needs that should be addressed to solve the problems of forcibly displaced persons from Artsakh. At the same time, the prospect of all seven communities of Syunik becoming a sister city with a French city was discussed before spring. “It is wonderful that the Armenian-French friendly relations are also strengthening at the regional and community level, which indicates that we are cooperating very effectively and that our bilateral goals are the same,” replied Robert Ghukasyan.
Mayor of Vienne Thierry Kovacs and Deputy Mayor Levon Sakunts also met our compatriots displaced from Artsakh who settled in Kapan, and the leaders of the region’s communities. On Sunday, the representatives of the Vienne administration visited their sister city, Goris.
Armen DAVTYAN
