French expert: Checks at Lachin checkpoint are not only legal, but also necessary

Statements about the so-called ‘blockade’ of the Lachin road do not correspond to the reality, French historian and political scientist Maxime Gouin told Report.

He was commenting on the statement of the French Foreign Ministry following a telephone conversation between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

“The circulation is not interrupted and the trucks which are waiting on the Armenian side would pass if the Armenians of Khankandi did not oppose the control by the Azerbaijani customs. This control is not only legitimate (checkpoints exist everywhere), but particularly needed in the context of smuggling of weapons with the protection of the Russian 'peacekeepers'," he said adding that the Aghdam-Khankandi road is currently blocked by the separatist leadership.

This kind of inaccurate statement is far from being limited to France, he said.

“In the case of France, certainly, and of the EU, possibly, the fear that if Nikol Pashinyan loses face in front of his public opinion, he will be replaced by Robert Kocharyan or a person of this kind - something nobody in Baku wants," he said.