French Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher during a press conference
The French Minister of Ecological Transition, Energy and Climate, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, announced on Wednesday that she would not travel to Baku to attend the COP29 on the climate, in response to virulent criticism made by President of Azerbaijan against France and European institutions at the opening of the UN conference.
Ilham Aliev denounced on Wednesday during an intervention before representatives of island states at COP29 the colonial history of France, in particular its past nuclear tests, and what he presented as crimes “of President Macron's regime ” in overseas territories, particularly New Caledonia.
“The list of France's crimes in these so-called overseas territories would not be complete without mentioning the regime's recent human rights violations. President Macron's regime has killed 13 people and injured 169 others this year during the legitimate demonstrations of the Kanak people in New Caledonia”, declared the leader in particular.
Ilham Aliev also castigated the “political hypocrisy” of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, reproaching them for their silence on “the assassination of innocent people” by France, a silence which according to him of these institutions “symbols of political corruption”.
Questioned in the Senate about the Azeri president's statements, Agnès Pannier-Runacher denounced “unacceptable” remarks and announced that she would not go to Baku next week for COP29 as planned.
“I will not go to the COP to finalize the negotiations, but the French teams will be at the COP, they will carry our agenda, whether on the exit from fossil fuels but also on human rights,” said declared the minister a little later on the Public Senate channel.
(Written by Tangi Salaün, edited by Jean Terzian)
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