"Both chambers of the French parliament recognized the independence of the so-called separatist regime... The French state and its top political leadership clearly recognize the independence of the separatist regime in Karabakh."
Elman Nasirov, a member of the Milli Majlis, said this while commenting on the resolution adopted by the French Parliament against Azerbaijan.
Fakt Yoxla analyzed to what extent this claim of the MP is justified.
France is a unitary republic governed by a semi-presidential system.
In the country, the executive branches of the state are divided into two branches, consisting of the President of France and the Government.
The government is headed by the Prime Minister appointed by the President, together with the president. The Prime Minister is also the head of the Council of Ministers, the main executive body of the government. These two branches of government are considered the supreme political leadership of France.
According to the French Constitution, the government directs the country's policy and makes decisions. All laws and some decrees must be approved by the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers also determines the collective political direction of the government and takes practical steps in this direction.
The parliament, which is a legislative body, consists of two chambers - the French National Assembly and the Senate.
The decisions of the Parliament are approved by the President of France. When the President exercises this authority, along with the Prime Minister, other ministers also participate in the approval of the decision.
Parliament can pass a resolution and call on the French government to agree to this resolution. However, the government has the power not to accept this call and disagree with the resolution.
Since the resolutions are advisory in nature, the Constitution does not oblige the government to implement them.
The draft law on the Recognition of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" was submitted to the French National Assembly on October 14, 2020.
The presentation of the draft law coincided with the outbreak of the Second Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As a result, both chambers of the French Parliament passed a resolution calling on the French government to recognize the so-called regime.
At the end of 2020, the French Republic was very close to recognizing the so-called regime; however, both resolutions were not supported by the French President and government. Thus, the independence of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" was not recognized (p. 38).
Even at that time, the head of the French Foreign Ministry, Jean-Yves Le Drian, stated that he did not consider the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh useful for the negotiation process. He rejected the call of the French National Assembly to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.
3 days before the adoption of those resolutions, French President Emmanuel Macron described Nagorno-Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan in a meeting with the local Armenian community.
"According to international law, Nagorno-Karabakh and other districts adjacent to it are considered the territory of Azerbaijan. Therefore, it is unacceptable to interfere in the affairs of a sovereign state without its consent," the President said.
It should be noted that since the beginning of the conflict, no UN member state has recognized the independence of the “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”. According to international law, these territories are part of Azerbaijan.
Only the separatist governments of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Republic of South Ossetia, and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic recognized this regime, the independence of which was not even recognized by Armenia itself.
The adoption of a new resolution by the French Senate recently made the said discussions relevant again.
In the resolution adopted on November 14 and providing for sanctions against Azerbaijan, it was again noted that the independence of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" should be recognized.
Elman Nasirov's statement also coincides with the adoption of this resolution.
Thus, although the French Parliament adopted resolutions recognizing the independence of the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" two years ago, the French President and government did not agree to these resolutions and did not recognize the independence of the so-called regime.
Fakt Yoxla concludes that since the recognition of the independence of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" is ultimately under the authority of the French government, the Council of Ministers may not fulfill the requirements of the November 14 resolution.
