The official website of the upper house of the French Parliament, the Senate, posted and appeal-message titled "Blocking of Lachin Corridor: There is fire in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, whereas the international community has turned its eyes in another direction." Armenpress presented below the unofficial translation of this appeal-message.

In order to participate in the commemoration ceremonies of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, the delegation headed by Bruno Retailleau, the chairman of the Senate group on relations with the Christians of the East, which was in Armenia from April 22 to 25 (...) visited the Tegh community on April 23, where, on the territory of Armenia, there was a deadly shootout on April 11.

"We have come here to demand the immediate lifting of the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, freeing the 120,000 Armenians who are in terrible conditions in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, and restoring the connection with Armenia. What is the point of commemorating the 1915 genocide if we turn a blind eye to the [Armenian] ethnic and [Christian] religious cleansing taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh?" Retailleau stated during a joint press conference with the head of the community and the governor of Syunik [Province] in Tegh community.

"We are afraid that the creation of a checkpoint by the Azerbaijani troops at the beginning of the new road to Nagorno-Karabakh, on the Hakari bridge, which is under the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces, may be a prelude to some kind of large-scale operation, which will lead to the irreversible closure of the Lachin corridor." he added.

While the [French] Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna is to visit three countries of the South Caucasus at the end of this week, the members of the [French] Senate call on France to strongly condemn this new violation of international law. They demand the European Union to apply strict sanctions against Azerbaijan.