YEREVAN, April 17, ARMENPRESS: Cédric Van Styvendael, the new Mayor of Villeurbanne, went to Armenia to contribute as much as he could to strengthen Franco-Armenian friendly relations.
NavigatingArmenpressthe mayor of Villeurbanne emphasized that the previous mayor was also active, he was a deputy who contributed to the French recognition of the Armenian genocide.
“I’ll tell you first why I’m here. I’m the new mayor of Villerurban. This is the first time I’ve been elected. I came to Armenia to re-establish old friendships,” said the mayor mayor, confirming that the mayor of the entire country. France should go to Armenia.
Speaking about the objectives of his visit to Armenia, Cédric Van Styvendael recalled that the cities of Villeurbanne and Abovyan have been connected since 1992.
“We came to sign a declaration of deeper ties between the two cities. Yesterday we signed it with the Abovyan administration,” he said.
He clarified that he decided to sign the declaration again these days, because he follows the development of the situation in Armenia and understands that Armenia needs support, and as the more people you have supporting her, the easier it will be. to solve the problems that have arisen.
“French local authorities are very careful when they discuss policies and make decisions so as not to interfere with other issues and to support Armenia at the level of municipal authorities,” said the mayor.
Regarding the other reasons for his visit to Armenia, Mr. Styvendael recalled that “the city of Villeurbanne also maintains good relations with the city of Chouchi, with which a declaration was also signed. It was confirmed by the visit of another group after 2020. In 2021, our delegation visited Nagorno-Karabakh and met with the mayor of Shushi in Stepanakert,” he said, emphasizing the meetings that he had with people who were forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh during his visit.
He noted that the city of Villeurbanne has always actively raised the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Speaking about the forced movement of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and their acceptance by the Republic of Armenia, the mayor said in particular: “We were surprised that Armenia, which is a small country, was able to accommodate to 100,000 Armenians who were forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in five days. We understood that the Armenians of Armenia were not leaving their brothers and sisters in distress,” he said, adding that France had also supported to give them.
“France has spoken three times at the UN on the issue of aid.
He also noted that at this point and in general regarding Armenian-French relations, he believes that the policy followed by French President Emmanuel Macron is correct.
The Mayor of Villeurbanne highlighted the unprecedented activity of EU observers in Armenia, as well as the recently signed defense agreements between Armenia and France.
Referring to the meetings he had with displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh during his visit, he noted that the Republic of Armenia is trying to do everything so that the displaced people stay -created here and will not leave Armenia.
“Many of the residents of Artsakh are attached to their land and, at meetings, they ask us to raise the question of their right to return to their homeland before international organizations,” said Mr. Styvendael , saying that everything should be done so that they stay in Armenia and those who want to return to Nagorno-Karabakh can do so more easily.
Addressing the areas in which cooperation between the cities of Villeurbanne and Abovyan can improve, the mayor noted that education, the distribution of French, the exchange of workers and issues related to their qualifications the main directions.
“We recently visited a French school and tried to understand how we can attract 6,000 people from Artsakh who have taken refuge in the city of Abovyan into our programs,” he said.
At the end of the conversation, Cédric van Styvendael shared his thoughts about his visit to Armenia. “I understand now why former mayors are arguing about the opportunity to visit Armenia please or be flattered, the people here have open hearts.”
David Maman
2024-04-17 14:09:06
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