In a few days, the President of the Republic will leave for Armenia on a state visit, which will mark the exceptional strengthening of ties between our two countries. Minister of Foreign Affairs of France

The opening of a new embassy is always joyful, because, first of all, it is a place that carries out important diplomatic missions: representing the state, protecting its citizens, dialogue with the host country, developing relations in all spheres of human activity. But the embassy is much more than that. it is a bridge, a bridge between two nations, two peoples formed by different collective ideas. This is a house where we learn to speak each other's language, where we share our own culture and discover each other's cultures. In short, a place where they understand each other. And seeing you gathered here tonight, so many people, I am sure that the embassy that we open together will be a vibrant and fruitful center of exchanges between France and Armenia. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Baron said about this at the opening ceremony of the new building of the Armenian Embassy in France: "Mr. Minister, as you mentioned, in a few days the President of the Republic will leave for Armenia on a state visit, which will mark the exceptional strengthening of ties between our two countries. At that time, Yerevan will become the beating heart of Europe. it will host the summit of the European Political Community and the first Armenia-EU summit. This event is a testimony to the fact that our two countries have chosen to walk together into the future with determination and confidence. Armenia's bold commitment to peace with Azerbaijan has opened a new horizon on the road to peace, security and prosperity in the South Caucasus. France welcomes this commitment to peace, while people in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to feel the horrors of wars not chosen by them. The presence of so many French friends of Armenia today testifies to the unique strength of the ties that unite our two peoples. From April 24, a few days after the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, France remembers each victim and honors their memory. This tragedy belongs not only to Armenian history, but also to the universal conscience. In 1915, French admiral Dartige du Fournay ordered the rescue of 4,000 Armenians who were besieged on Mount Musa. He transported them safely to Egypt by ship, a move that remains to this day one of the brightest episodes in French history in the Middle East. It obliges us. France also knows what it owes to Armenian courage, to Misak and Meline Manushyan, important figures of the resistance who now rest in the Pantheon. Being French by right of shed blood, they chose freedom. Like yesterday, France stands by Armenia today, and that bond is unbreakable. With this new embassy, ​​Armenia is establishing itself in a place that bears a part of French history. President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing lived within these walls and in this garden for more than 60 years. He is one of the main figures of the European rooting of our country. He believed in a Europe that is open, demanding and true to its values. of a Europe that does not turn its back on its neighbors, but extends its hand to them. The year 2026 marks the centenary of his birth, and I am happy tonight, in the presence of his family, to pay tribute to the great president and the great European that he was. May this house and garden that belonged to him become the home of Armenia in France today. Let them be a place of life, creation and meetings. Let it be a living part of Armenia here in Paris, and let it be a wide open window to France for Armenia. Long live France, long live Armenia and long live French-Armenian friendship," he said.