France appoints Brice Roquefeuil as new co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group

YEREVAN, November 4. /ARKA/. Brice Roquefeuil has been appointed as new French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, (the only internationally-mandated platform to help Armenia and Azerbaijan settle the Nagorno-Karabalh conflict), the French government said in a statement, published on its official website November 3, 2021.

He will replace Stéphane Visconti, who served as French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group since 2016.

Previously, Brice Roquefeuil was on diplomatic missions in Panama and Uzbekistan. He also served as a political advisor to the French embassies in Russia and Turkey.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. The truce was brokered by Russia, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. 

A large-scale offensive initiated by Azerbaijan in 2020 autumn resulted in the loss of part of Nagorno-Karabakh and also seven regions adjacent to it. -0-