“Of course, many French-Armenians have been presenting videos showing what they describe as crimes committed by the Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh against the peaceful population, but nevertheless it is highly important for these episodes to be documented, to mention where and when exactly these crimes were committed, in order to have a strong evidence basis to help us raise this and take effective countermeasures,” the MP said in Goris during a meeting with forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh.

She highlighted the fact that Armenia has joined the Rome Statute of the ICC. This will facilitate independent investigations into Azeri war crimes. “If all episodes are properly documented, the criminals will sooner or later be held to account and face justice,” she said.

The security of Armenia’s borders and protection of its territorial integrity is now a priority for France and many EU countries, thus French lawmakers are calling on their European partners to provide more support to Armenia, Anne-Laurence Petel said.

Speaking about the repatriation of Armenian POWs and the arbitrary arrests of the Nagorno-Karabakh leadership by Azerbaijan, Anne-Laurence Petel said that a discussion has taken place in the French parliament in this regard.

A meeting with the participation of the European Commission President has also taken place on this matter and the latter has asked the list of all arrested officials and POWs.

Wider Europe programme Director Marie Dumoulin, who also visited Goris as part of the European delegation, said that they seek to understand whether or not there’s an opportunity to start dialogue between Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijanis, and deploy international peacekeepers on the ground.