Azerbaijan announced on Tuesday December 26 the expulsion of two French diplomats for activities “incompatible with their status”, in a context of tensions between the two countries over Paris' support for Armenia. The French ambassador, Anne Boillon, was summoned to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be notified of "a firm protest against the actions of two employees of the French embassy incompatible with their diplomatic status", added Azerbaijani diplomacy in a press release, without providing further details.
The two diplomats must leave Azerbaijan within forty-eight hours, according to the same source.
In recent months, Azerbaijan has accused France of “destabilizing” the Caucasus by providing aid to Armenia, a rival of Baku of which it is a historical supporter. In November, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Paris of encouraging “new wars” by arming Yerevan and refused to attend a European summit in Granada, Spain, in October, as well as to participate in a meeting with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, affirming that the latter had positions oriented in favor of the Armenians. At the end of November, Azerbaijan also accused France, Germany and the United States of being involved in the “illegal financing” of an investigative media recently targeted by two arrests.
