France announces start of ‘normalisation’ process with Azerbaijan

France’s Foreign Ministry said that Azerbaijan’s decision to release French national Martin Ryan “marks a step towards the normalisation of relations” between Azerbaijan and France, following decades of deep tensions between the two countries, Euronews reports.

In a short statement released on Thursday through the French embassy in Baku the French foreign ministry said that “the decision (to pardon Ryan) is the result of a patient and demanding dialogue with Azerbaijan’s authorities which we intend to continue.”

Against the backdrop of deeply fraught relations between France and Azerbaijan, French businessman Martin Ryan was arrested in December 2023 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges.

France challenged the Azerbaijani proceedings, considering them arbitrary and based on an unfair trial.

The apparent diplomatic breakthrough towards what Paris now calls “a step towards normalisation” between France and Azerbaijan coincides with the unfolding peace and reconciliation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan after decades of war over Karabakh.

France has been one of Armenia’s staunchest supporters for many decades.

At the same time, France’s announcement comes amid a wider political and economic process of the EU strengthening relations with the South Caucasus and Central Asian countries amid the fast-moving geopolitical evolutions around Eurasia and beyond.