Yesterday something special hapenned in France's history.
Gabriel Attal was appointed France's youngest and first gay prime minister. It should be noted that according to media reports, his responsibility is to strengthen the power of French President Macron. He is expected to present his staff. His appointment is viewed with suspicion due to his relative inexperience and lack of notable achievements in his previous role as education minister.
He did not make any comments on the current situation regarding Azerbaijan, but a statement he made in 2021 does not escape our attention. Thus, at the meeting of the UN Security Council in Paris, with the nature of "Azerbaijanophobia", he spoke with the demand for the release of Armenian prisoners held by Baku. In addition, in 2022, he participated in several events with Armenian groups in France. The relations he has with them can be seen enough in the Armenian mass media. In short, it can be said that the elected prime minister is good news not only for the French, but also for the Armenians in the country.
Despite all this, it can be assumed that his current task is to put France's internal affairs in order until the upcoming European Parliament elections (6 months). Therefore, it seems difficult to expect a big change in the relations between France and Azerbaijan in the short term. The other candidate for the Prime Ministership was his current partner and colleague Stefan Sejourne. He is the president of "Renew Europe", a liberal, pro-European political party created for the ninth term of the European Parliament. The party is a successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), which has formed an alliance with Macron's party. According to French publication Le Monde, in order to be elected, he had to convince MPs that he would not use his position to serve the views of Emmanuel Macron and that he could take into account the diversity of sensibilities of the group. Although Sejourne expressed concern about the situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, he also criticized the lack of European diplomacy in the region and said that "he is afraid that the economic interests of Europe will prevail over the regional interests of Europe."
When we compared the two, Attal seemed to be the healthier candidate, but for this reasoning to come true, he needs to solve the internal problems immediately. Securne not only had the opportunity to directly influence Azerbaijan through his mission, but also had to rely on the support of other European countries to make it happen. Given the current relationship between the two, it is possible that Sexurne has at least an indirect say in these matters.
Due to these factors, even if there is a major change in the French government, it is unlikely that we will immediately observe a different trend in the current relations between the two countries.
Author is Arman Senocak
