France is preparing to submit a resolution to the United Nations Security Council to address the growing humanitarian crisis in Artsakh caused by Azerbaijan’s more than eight-month blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the Le Figaro newspaper reported on Friday.
The article also noted that a humanitarian assistance procured by Paris and other major French cities will head for Armenia. That effort was advanced by the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France, known as CCAF.
“Since the closure on December 12, 2022 by the Azerbaijani army of the only access route linking Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh to the rest of the world – in this case Armenia – its population, almost exclusively Armenian, lives a trial. In addition to the almost daily firing on villagers and border soldiers, no property or person, except, in dribs and drabs (patients escorted by the Red Cross), can enter or leave this 3,000 km2 territory that Baku claims as its own since Stalin integrated in 1923 this Armenian land for more than two thousand five hundred years into the Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan,” Le Figaro wrote.
France’s Embassy in Armenia did not confirm or deny the Le Figaro report. Instead, the embassy pointed to remakes made by President Emmanuel Macron of France, who told another French publication, Le Point, that France must maintain its pressure to address the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh.
During last week’s UN Security Council session devoted to the Artsakh humanitarian crisis, France’s Deputy Representative to the UN, Nathalie Broadhurst, presented a powerful statement of support to Armenia and called on Azerbaijan to immediately end the blockade.
“The ongoing blockade of Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan continues to isolate the population of Nagorno-Karabakh from the rest of the world, without any lawful reason to substantiate it, and this contradicts principles of international humanitarian law,” Broadhurst told the Security Council on August 16.
“France condemns the blocking of humanitarian aid sent by the Armenian authorities in July to eliminate the consequences of the situation. The same goes for obstructions to the ICRC activities, which is in violation of principles of international law. This is unacceptable. Given the severity of the situation, France calls for unconditional and immediate restoration of unimpeded movement of goods and persons in both directions, as well as continual supplies of gas and electricity to the population,” she added.
“We demand the restoration of free movement for people, for goods, for cargo throughout the Lachin corridor, in both directions. We request the continuous supply of gas and electricity to the population. It is also vital to ensure a continuous access to essential services for all the populations,” Broadhurst said at a press briefing ahead of the Security Council session last week.
“France will intensify its humanitarian support to the affected population,” Broadhurst added. “We have decided to make an additional contribution of 3 million euros to the humanitarian action of the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
