FRENCH SKEPTICAL ABOUT OSCE PROCESS, SAY WIKILEAK CABLES
Asbarez
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
LOS ANGELES
A high-level French foreign ministry official expressed skepticism
about the OSCE Minsk Group process for the Karabakh resolution and
cited the large Armenian community residing in France as a factor
in that country~Rs inability to push forward a resolution, State
Department cables published by WikiLeaks revealed.
The February 2010 cable, emanating from the US Embassy in Paris and
filed by political adviser Andrew Young, detailed statements by French
Assistant Foreign Minister on Continental Europe, Roland Galharague,
who was discussing a range of issues, which included the Caucasus.
~SThe Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations appear to be at a ~Sdead end,~T
Galharague averred, adding that ~QMinsk (The Minsk Group) is going
nowhere fast,~R~T said the cable.
~SHe noted that the French government is not in a position to push
the Armenians at the moment because French citizens of Armenian origin
~Qrepresent about 500,000 votes~R and French regional elections will
take place in March,~T added the cable.
Other factors may soon impact the Caucasus region, he warned, such
as instability in Iran. ~SAzerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkmenistan all
have important trade and energy ties with Iran and they could be
immediately affected by the Iran sanctions bill currently making its
way through the U.S. Congress,~T explained Galharague to the American
official, according to the cable. ~SAt the same time, the effort to
impose harsher U.N. sanctions may offer us an opportunity to further
engage with those three countries about their approach to Iran.~T
From: A. Papazian