The National Assembly of France once again demonstrates bias against Azerbaijan by adopting a resolution containing absurd allegations against our country, including claims related to the activities of the Baku Initiative Group. Moreover, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, reiterated those allegations in his address to the National Assembly, and levelling unfounded accusations against our state.

We, the Support Group for the People of Corsica in the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, strongly condemn this resolution and the expressed positions which contravene international law and objective reality, and we view those as yet another manifestation of France's campaign to discredit Azerbaijan.

The Republic of Azerbaijan always adheres to the principles of international law, especially so, the principle of states’ sovereignty. The Baku Initiative Group is precisely the platform, based on the said principles, which opposes the colonialism policy from international rostra and aims to support the peoples fighting for freedom and justice.

The attempts of the French Side to discredit this initiative ensure from their intention to justify their own ill-meaning colonial policy.

The very fact that France, a state laying claims to the defence of international law and democracy, condoned the 30-year-long Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories and remained indifferent to the eviction of more than a million Azerbaijanis from their native lands as well as the destruction of the cultural and religious heritage, unmasks it and, at the same time, is another glaring example of the characteristic double standards.

Today, we live in our sovereign territories under the leadership of the victorious Leader of Azerbaijan, and our territorial integrity has been restored wholly. Thus, we have apprehended France’s destructive policy in the South Caucasus. But we can observe that France is attempting to use the same colonial logic in our region. France continues arming Armenia and using it as a manipulative tool.

Currently, the French authorities are trying to discredit the legitimate steps of Azerbaijan that are based on international law. Meanwhile, France should finally realise that the French colonial policy as well as France’s flagrant violation of the will of the native peoples in New Caledonia and the other regions have been put in the focus of the international community thanks to the endeavours of the Baku Initiative Group.

We are calling upon the authorities and legislative bodies of France to desist the policy contradicting the principles of international law and of fairness, to respect the fundamental human rights and to ensure the realisation of the overseas territories’ peoples’ independence aspirations.