The exclusive interview of President of France Nicolas Sarkozy to Mediamax

- Mr. President, you will be visiting Armenia for the first time. What are you expecting from your visit?

- This visit has a great significance for me. I wanted to visit your country long ago. I told President Sargsyan about it right after his election when he invited me. This visit coincides with the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence and it makes its symbolism even stronger.

I wish that this visit, which takes place after last week's official visit of President Sargsyan to France, will become an occasion to celebrate those unique ties which unite our two countries and people.

Our friendship is rooted in history but it was tempered in the Genocide tragedy, when France became a refuge for dozens of thousands of Armenians who have survived the massacre.

Inseparable ties uniting France and Armenia were confirmed at that very moment - in the horror of a dreadful ordeal, a terrible tragedy the Armenian people went through, which can never be described by words, and everyone should call it by its own name - Genocide. France is proud by the fact that it was the first country to have officially recognized Genocide by law.

My visit is also a chance to express gratitude to hundreds of thousands of French people of Armenian origin, without whom France would have never been the country it is today. The heart of French-Armenian relations beats only in these exceptional human ties. These relations make our people closer than friends - sisters.

And, finally, at the moment when Armenia celebrates the 20th anniversary of its independence, this visit is an occasion to pay tribute to the Armenian nation. You have done much in hard regional conditions: created a democracy, effectively passed to market economy, play an important and respectable role on the international arena.

Many challenges remain, of course, particularly the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which France is deeply involved as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair.

I have no doubts that political and economic reforms will continue and Armenia will have a brilliant future. Your country can always rely on France.

- France is one of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs for the settlement of the NK conflict. Speaking about Armenia and Azerbaijan, many experts often recall the experience of France and Germany in the period following the World War II, when despite the existing antagonism, Paris and Bonn found the strength for reconciliation, and today they are one of the closest allies and leaders of the EU. What do you think, how appropriate this analogy is?

- The history of France and Germany shows that even the biggest pain can be softened and the deepest hatred can be overcome, and even during the most difficult moments of their history peoples can find the strength for reconciliation.

By the time our countries chose reconciliation, they had had three conflicts with each other during several decades. During the World War I, France and Germany fought tooth and nail. Our countries found the strength for reconciliation and had built a strong friendship on the fragments of World War II, accompanied by horrors and sufferings. This friendship is the cornerstone of European construction today.

To have this, our countries needed such extraordinary people like General de Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer. They exhibited courage necessary for reaching peace, since sometimes more courage is needed for establishing peace than for continuing the war. Being real statesmen, only several years after the war they managed to persuade their peoples that peace has no alternative and each of the sides should overcome its hatred and continue the path to peace and cooperation.

You, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, should chose this path. The time has come for you to make a risky choice for peace, as there is no bigger danger than the preservation of status-quo which gives birth to illusions, provokes revenge and moves off all the prospects for peace.

No other country, but France, can imagine what Nagorno Karabakh means for Armenia. However, 17 years after the war, which had caused so many deaths and sufferings, the time has come to resolve the conflict and find the way to reconciliation. I'll also deliver this message to President Aliyev in Baku, where I am leaving after my visit to Armenia.

- France has a big mediation experience in conflict resolution. One of such examples was the role Paris played in the resolution of the August 2008 crisis between Russia and Georgia. Could France or the EU assume a bigger role in the process of NK settlement, especially taking into consideration many statements about EU’s desire to play a more active role in this issue?

- The European Union has recently reinforced its role in the South Caucasus and I am very glad about it. At first, the EU did it through the European Neighborhood Policy, and then within the Eastern Partnership which France backed from the very beginning.

France wants the European Union to establish closer relations with the countries of the region, beginning with Armenia. South Caucasus is a strategic region for the European Union  and associative and partner ties with the European Union will facilitate prosperity, strengthening of democracy and dialogue in all three Caucasus countries.

There exists one format to bolster the efforts of the international community for the settlement of the Karabakh problem - the Minsk Group. Each of three Co-Chair states enjoys the confidence of two sides and is involved in the process of definition of conditions for conflict settlement. But the Armenians and Azerbaijanis themselves should find this path first of all. We can help, escort but we can never establish peace instead of you.

- France was involved in the process of Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and French Foreign Minister Bernard  Kouchner was present at the signing of the Protocols 2 years ago. Do you see new possibilities for Yerevan and Ankara and could Paris render assistance to the sides?

- The Protocols on establishing diplomatic relations and opening the border between Turkey and Armenia aroused many hopes. This reconciliation process has reached a deadlock today, which I deeply regret.

President Sargsyan exhibited wisdom and foresight saying the next day after one of our meetings in Paris that Armenia is ready to ratify the Protocols when Turkey is ready for it. I hope the process will resume soon.