Francois Rochebloine: Timing of Ailham Aliyev's visit to France is not right

Leaders from more than 45 European countries and beyond gathered today in Yerevan for the eighth summit of the European Political Community (EPC). The summit was the largest gathering of European leaders ever held in the South Caucasus. Apart from the set piece events in plenary session, many leaders also held private bilateral meetings. commonspace.eu special correspondent, Alex Verge, was at the summit, from where he filed this report: European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, France President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were amongst the myriad of European leaders that gathered on Monday for 8th summit of the European Political Community. Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney was also present, making him the first non-European leader to take part in an EPC summit. The summit marked the first of two days of high-level diplomacy in Yerevan, with the city also hosting the first ever bilateral EU-Armenia summit tomorrow. Both summits are signals of support from Europe for the policies of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in power since 2018. In particular, the Pashinyan administration has looked to develop new foreign partnerships, reduce Armenia’s reliance on historic partner Russia, and pursue a difficult peace process with Azerbaijan. A polarising figure in Armenian politics, Pashinyan is seeking re-election in June this year in parliamentary elections. (click image to read the report in full).