“Unprecedented defense efforts” and “new economic pages”: Emmanuel Macron will sign a strategic partnership agreement with Armenia

Emmanuel Macron ends a state visit to Armenia on Tuesday, a former Soviet republic divided between European aspirations and historical links with Russia, by signing a partnership and contracts intended to intensify an already dense bilateral relationship. France, where the largest Armenian diaspora lives after those in Russia and the United States, with 400,000 people, has a long history of friendship and solidarity with this small, very Francophile country of three million inhabitants.

The French president was also greeted by numerous expressions of sympathy, from the highest leaders of the state to onlookers who applauded him in the streets of Yerevan with cries of “Long live Armenia!” Vive la France! On the first day of the visit on Monday, Emmanuel Macron recalled this “singular relationship”the reception in Marseille (south of France) of refugees fleeing the massacres of Armenians perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, the mobilization of France during the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, the influence of singer Charles Aznavour in both countries.

Skip the ad

French song was also in the spotlight at the state dinner: Emmanuel Macron sang the «Bohemia»  by Charles Aznavour with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian on piano and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on drums. His counterpart also performed the “Dead leaves” by Yves Montand.

“The choice of Europe and prosperity are those that we support”

France has also always supported Armenia in its deadly fight against Azerbaijan after the fall of the USSR in 1991. “Many in Europe looked at us like strange beasts” when others preferred to cultivate their energy and commercial relations with Baku, said the French president. At the height of the war around the separatist enclave of Karabakh in 2023, Russia, which still has 4,000 soldiers in Armenia, “was not there, any more than she is there for Venezuela when it has problems (…) or the Malian regime when it is shaken by terrorists”he said.

The president also welcomed the choice of Armenia and its Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, to “turning towards Europe”despite thinly veiled warnings from Russia. An aspiration confirmed by the holding of the first EU-Armenia summit on Tuesday in Yerevan. “The choice you have made of full and complete independence, peace, stability in this region, the choice of Europe and prosperity are those that we support (…). We want to be part of this adventure.”launched Emmanuel Macron during the dinner in his honor at the presidential palace.

Armenia has placed an order for 36 Caesar cannons in 2024

“This new era of regional cooperation can put the Caucasus even more in the middle of a crossroads between Europe and Asiaâ€underlines the Élysée. In this context, Emmanuel Macron and Nikol Pachinian will sign a strategic partnership consecrating “The unprecedented defense efforts” and opening from “new economic pages”. Defense cooperation already includes an air component with the order of three French radars and the training by France of Armenian soldiers. Armenia has placed an order for 36 Caesar cannons in 2024. Contracts will also be signed in the field of transport. The Élysée mentioned “Potential prospects for Airbus” as well as “the commitment of the French state” in the construction of a tunnel on the Armenian north-south road axis.

The president will bow in the morning at the Memorial commemorating the massacres of Armenians in Yerevan. He will visit the Matenadaran museum which contains a vast collection of ancient Armenian manuscripts and will conclude a cooperation agreement with the National Library of France. President Macron and Prime Minister Pashinian will also go to Gyumri, the martyr city of the earthquake which left some 25,000 dead on December 7, 1988 in the northwest of the country.