Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan in Yerevan on February 23, 2024 (AFP/KAREN MINASYAN)
Armenia and France loudly affirmed their rapprochement in defense matters on Friday with an unprecedented visit by the French Minister of the Armed Forces to Yerevan, who seeks to reduce its dependence on Moscow.
After the resumption of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan in September 2023, which followed a war in 2020 lost by Armenia, “it was France which reacted first” when Yerevan called for help, declared the Armenian Minister of Defense, Souren Papikian, during a press conference with his counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu.
“This reaction and the cooperation put in place over the past year and a half is of great importance for Armenia,” said Mr. Papikian.
Aid to Yerevan is “purely defensive”, insists Paris for its part: “the absolute priority being to protect civilian populations and strategic sites”, in particular thanks to a strengthening of air defense, according to Mr. Lecornu.
Clashes take place regularly between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies, who accused each other in mid-February of having carried out shooting on their border which had killed four Armenian soldiers, according to Yerevan.
Armenia also accuses Azerbaijan of preparing “total war” and considering new conquests, which Baku denies.
– “Risky geopolitical game” –
Faced with its recent military defeats and its new fears, Yerevan feels abandoned by its traditional ally, Russia, and is seeking other support.
France and Armenia have already signed a letter of intent in the fall on air defense, including the acquisition of three radars from the French company Thalès and night vision binoculars manufactured by Safran and delivered on Thursday.
Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan in Yerevan on February 23, 2024 (AFP/KAREN MINASYAN)
Armenia also signed a contract on Friday for the acquisition of precision rifles with the French company PGM, the amount of which was not specified. Paris has also committed to training five Armenian soldiers at the Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan Military Academy.
Furthermore, the letter of intent mentions discussions on the acquisition by Yerevan of short-range missiles from the French missile maker MBDA.
In the same dynamic, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pachichian declared that Armenia was suspending its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a diplomatic-military alliance dominated by Moscow.
“In practice, we have frozen our participation in this organization,” said Mr. Pashinian during an interview with France 24 broadcast during the night from Thursday to Friday.
However, Mr. Pashinian did not question the presence of the Russian military base on Armenian soil, located in Gyoumri, and which officially has around 3,000 soldiers.
“We have the feeling that Nikol Pashinian is going all out by demonstrating that he has found a serious military shoulder to rely on in the confrontation” between Baku and Yerevan, judge Arkady Dubnov, a recognized expert on the conflict. “It’s a risky geopolitical game,” according to him.
– Military modernization –
In the same interview with the French channel, Mr. Pashinian rejected Baku’s accusations that Paris is adding fuel to the fire, and stressed that Azerbaijan, rich in hydrocarbons, is spending “billions of euros” to its own weaponry.
“Azerbaijan will continue its efforts to negotiate from a position of strength. The question is whether French military support will be able to provide deterrence,” said Tigrane Yegavian of Schiller International University.
Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu in Yerevan on February 23, 2024 (AFP/KAREN MINASYAN)
The Armenian forces, 60,000 men, found themselves very weakened by the 2020 war lost by Armenia, which criticized Russia for passivity in the face of a much better equipped Azerbaijani army.
In this context, Armenia, with three million inhabitants, “turns to partners who are truly security providers”, explained Sébastien Lecornu in response to a question on the weakened links between Yerevan and Moscow.
According to Mr. Papikian, Yerevan has decided to begin a process of “modernization” of its armies, to Soviet standards.
During the 2020 war, France attempted mediation within the framework of the Minsk group between the two capitals, but found itself isolated against Russia and Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan.
Paris then began a change of approach and strengthened its military ties with Armenia, which already maintains a strong cultural relationship with France, cradle of the main Armenian community in Europe.
© 2024 AFP
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