• France wants to distance the EU from Azerbaijan and defends and arms Armenia as a source of conflict in the South Caucasus.
• On the other hand, instead of restoring relations with Russia, the Armenian authorities, on the contrary, go against the legal documents and aggravate the situation with Kremlin.
• Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan speaks at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum about the importance of developing free trade relations in the South Caucasus.

Against the backdrop of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations, political games, manipulations and approaches from double standards continue. As usual, the South Caucasus is still in the spotlight and the game is played over the West’s most submissive ally Armenia.

Last week, the ministerial meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku, and it was once again confirmed that Azerbaijan is Europe's most reliable partner in the field of energy. The European Union appreciates the work done by Azerbaijan in terms of energy security, and even stressed that if Azerbaijan hosts COP29 this year, the energy issue should be one of the most priority issues. This means that the European Union considers Azerbaijan one of the most important partners in terms of cooperation.

But we wonder why the political circles of France, together with some political figures in Europe, cannot stop their propaganda against Azerbaijan?

Every enterprise operating in France, from an ordinary organization, firm and service centers to political circles, actively carries out anti-Azerbaijani activities. Annabelle JG, founder of FAMA and Chief Representative of SEFB, made a post on her X social page calling for the European Union to completely distance itself from Azerbaijan and be closer to Armenia.

"In the European Parliament, we will work more on how to get closer to Armenia and distance ourselves from Azerbaijan."

The question arises, let's say that, leaving aside all material interests, the European Union distanced itself from Azerbaijan and instead made Armenia close to itself. The result raises an even more ridiculous question: Why does the European Union need Armenia, which does not play a single percent role in international trade and energy supply while with Azerbaijan has contracts worth billions of dollars. It is very significant to note that the European Union pays particular attention to the economic situation of those states when they join it. Among them, the Balkans, Greece and a number of Eastern European states can be cited as examples. Since Armenia geographically belongs to the South Caucasus, it is puzzling that Europe attaches so much importance to this country. It turns out that France's goal is to make a state in the South Caucasus that matches its goals closer to itself than to support energy security. For this reason, rather than losing Azerbaijan, the European Union wants to jump into the South Caucasus using Armenia as a trampoline and implement its plans related to the region from the territory of Armenia.

Meanwhile, tensions arising in the relations between Armenia and Russia shed some light on the dark goals of the West. In fact, Armenia faced a difficult choice. Although it is a very dangerous maneuver for the Yerevan administration to rise against an allied state like Russia, it has to fulfill this role in order to demonstrate that it is committed to its party. Although the way out seems somewhat unprofessional, the Yerevan administration is trying to protect itself from the wrath of the Kremlin by using its population. In a nutshell, the Pashinyan administration is using the people as a shield for his safety under Russia’s wrath. These are the people whom Pashinyan administration labels anti-Russia but in fact made him Prime Minister again in 2021 straight after his defeat in the Second Garabagh War.

But all this is temporary and sooner or later Armenia will have to strengthen its ties not only with Russia, but also with Azerbaijan, Turkiye and other strategic allies close to the region.

Armenia already feels this, because the economic situation and material well-being always wins over political will.

Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan, who participated in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum held in Antalya, Turkiye, focused on this issue in his speech the other day. Although Armenia is still not in a hurry to take steps towards peace in the region today, the words of the Armenian FM indicated the demand inside.

"When you establish connections with other countries, you're not only contributing to your economy but also creating opportunities for mutual interdependence, which has positive implications for establishing peace. We have witnessed this firsthand in our region."

The doors of a chance are closing for Armenia. Having a successful economy in the South Caucasus is more reliable and important than Western allies. In addition, Yerevan should realize that prolonging the peace talks with official Baku is harmful for it in every way.