France recalls ambassador to Azerbaijan

France has recalled their ambassador to Azerbaijan, with Paris accusing Baku of damaging their bilateral relations.

On Tuesday, France’s Foreign Ministry stated that President Emmanuel Macron had received Ambassador Anne Boillon in Paris to discuss Azerbaijan’s ‘continuation of unilateral actions damaging to relations between our two countries’.

The ministry stated that Macron had called for clarification from Azerbaijan on its ‘intentions’.

Asked about France’s withdrawal of its ambassador, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Aykhan Hajizade accused France on Wednesday of taking ‘open and explicit anti-Azerbaijani actions’ since 2020.

Hajizade also accused Paris of being biased in its mediation between Azerbaijan and Armenia and of contributing to escalating tensions in the region.

The spokesperson also criticised resolutions adopted by the French Parliament in which he said ‘numerous unfounded accusations, insults, and threats have been made against our country’.

‘At the same time, it is clear as day that the actions of France, which is extensively arming Armenia and promoting militarism in the region, do not serve peace’.

Tensions between France and Azerbaijan have been on the rise following the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, with Baku accusing France of seeking to instigate another military escalation in the region by providing military equipment and aid to Armenia.

In December 2023, Paris and Baku expelled several of each other’s diplomats, after Azerbaijan accused France of stirring a diplomatic crisis with the country. 

At the time, Azerbaijani pro-government media reported that Azerbaijan had exposed a French spy network operating in the country.