Slovak analyst says France's steps in South Caucasus do not promise good results for Armenia

It’s just a matter of time when the peace treaty will be signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Slovak political analyst Jozef Hrabina told Report.

"It’s clear that the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict is over in favor of Azerbaijan since the balance of power in the past 20 years has shifted in Azerbaijan’s favor. Therefore, it’s just a matter of time when the peace treaty will be signed. And the joint meeting in Georgia should be taken as one of the crucial and most vital steps in the peace process in the Southern Caucasus. Yes, it’s very likely that Armenia is trying to postpone and delay the negotiations because the conflict is already lost to the country and they are trying to devise the peace negotiations strategy or it’s their strategy to delay. They are trying to devise a strategy that might help them, I would say, decrease the damage or do some damage control on their side," he said.

Hrabina stressed that France is very active on Armenia’s side:

"They are trying to help them. This alliance or partnership is aimed for Armenia to find a new security guarantor. We see that France is increasing international trade volume, especially in the military-industrial complex, in the past several years. French politicians and decision-makers are very vocal in supporting Armenia in the latest rounds of escalations in Karabakh. Whether this will somehow impact the result of the conflict, I don’t think so. It will be for the best if Armenia signs the peace treaty as soon as possible to restore order in the region and in order to move on."