A roundtable discussion, entitled “Nagorno-Karabakh: Peace and Dialogue,” was convened Thursday at the Senate of France.

The event brought together the Armenian National Assembly’s Armenian-French Parliamentary Friendship Group members—who are in France on an official visit—, French senators, Senate officials, analysts, and members of the media.   

Bulgarian journalist Tsvetana Paskaleva welcomed the audience with opening remarks. Next, her film entitled “Will There be a Morning Over Karabakh?” was screened. 

Subsequently, discussions were held during which the aspects of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict were presented, and presentations were delivered by the OSCE Minsk Group’s former Co-Chair Bernard Fassier, French senators, Armenian MPs, historians, and analysts.   

The roundtable discussants underscored the security of the people of Karabakh, harshly condemned the bellicose statements, and stressed the unacceptability of the case of Ramil Safarov—the Azerbaijani army officer who had killed with an axe Armenian soldier Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest back in 2004 and who was released in Azerbaijan this year.   

The speakers highlighted that peace has no alternative, and the order of the day is to prepare the societies for peace, not for war.