Statements made by the Ministry of Foreign and European Spokesperson (Paris, June 29, 2009)

Nagorno-Karabakh/ Meeting between the Armenia and Azerbaijan Ministers (Paris, June 26)
Lebanon
Niger

Nagorno-Karabakh/ Meeting between the Armenia and Azerbaijan Ministers (Paris, June 26)

France, which co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group with the United States and Russia, is using all its mediation efforts to help Armenia and Azerbaijan forge a peaceable, just and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

On the initiative of the mediating countries, the Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister, Edward Nalbandian and the Azerbaijan Foreign Affairs Minister, Elmar Mammedyarov, met in Paris on June 26 to begin new negotiations.

The two ministers had in-depth discussions, within a constructive environment, initially separately with the mediators, then together in the presence of the mediators in order to determine how to follow up on the most recent, very positive, summit meeting between Presidents Aliev and Sarkissian in St. Petersburg at the beginning of June.

These discussions made it possible to consolidate the progress made in St. Petersburg and to precisely determine the areas where further progress could be achieved, and with regard to which the co-presidents have put forward new proposals for compromise.

Within this context, the mediators have decided to make further visits to Baku and Yerevan, as well as Nagorno-Karabakh, from the beginning of next month in order to prepare for a new meeting between the two presidents. This meeting has been accepted in principle and could take place towards mid-July in Moscow.

 

Lebanon

Q - Can you confirm a visit by Bernard Kouchner to Lebanon on July 9 and 10, followed by a visit to Damascus to take part in a French Ambassadors’ meeting?

As Bernard Kouchner indicated in his letter congratulating Saad Hariri on being nominated President of the Council of Ministers of the Lebanese Republic, he is intending to visit Lebanon very soon.

Bernard Kouchner will also go to Damascas in July. He will chair the French Ambassadors’ Regional Conference on this occasion.

Q - A woman was killed yesterday during clashes in Lebanon. Your reaction?

France condemns these clashes that took place yesterday in Beirut and which led to the death of a woman and several people being injured. We extend our condolences to the bereaved and assure the injured of our solidarity.

We urge all of the parties to accept responsibility.

France lends its support to President Sleimane as well as the Lebanese Armed Forces, who ensure the stability and security of Lebanon.

 

Niger

Q - What is your assessment of the situation in Niger where the president granted himself “exceptional powers” on Friday, invoking article 53 of the Constitution allowing him to govern on the basis of judgments and decrees.

Isn’t there a contradiction in French diplomacy between the decision to support a president in Honduras who is trying, through a popular consultation, to maintain power beyond the end of his term, and the decision to criticize, if that is the case, a president in Niger who is trying to do the same thing through a referendum?

Is there a link between the relative discretion of French diplomacy regarding the situation in Niger and the mining contract recently signed between this country and AREVA?

We are closely monitoring the developing situation in Niger and are concerned about it.

We noted the decision by President Tandja to use the powers granted under article 53 of Niger’s Constitution in order to “compensate for the legal and institutional vacuum resulting from the dissolution of the National Assembly,” which he himself carried out on May 26.

We also noted that, in his message to the nation, President Tandja had limited, time-wise, and confined to a number of specific questions the use he intended making of the constitutional powers under article 53.

Nevertheless, other official Niger sources have subsequently referred to the possibility of using these powers to revive the project for revising the Constitution by referendum. This possibility would quite obviously be designed to circumvent the Constitutional Court’s explicit decision on the matter, and would not be in accordance with the commitments made.

France reaffirms the importance it attaches to the constitutional framework of Niger, the preservation of the democratic progress made by this country and its stability.