Eric Zemmour’s visit was largely unnoticed in Armenia, but French Armenians accused him of trying to use the country’s conflicts for his own Islamophobic purposes.
The International Court of Justice declined, however, to order more concrete measures related to Armenian prisoners and maps of land mines in Azerbaijan.
In his first public appearance following his surprise return to the country, arrest, and hunger strike, the ex-president brushed off the charges against him and issued an expansive defense of his time in power.
There was much to discuss just over a year after the end of the war, including ongoing border tensions, plans to reopen borders and transportation, and the fate of Armenian prisoners.
The question of whether Uzbekistan should join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, with its single market of 184 million people, has provoked fierce debates.
The dispute over where the former Georgian president should be treated became sharper as he briefly lost consciousness as a result of his hunger strike.
Repeated attempts from Baku to force Yerevan to negotiate may be having the opposite effect, as the government is now vulnerable to being seen as easily bullied.