Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 6 / Trend E.Tariverdiyeva /
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's attention to the South Caucasus region is important in terms of Paris's long-term policy, Deputy Director of the CIS Institute Vladimir Zharikhin believes.
"The situation between Russia and Georgia which occurred in 2008 showed that Sarkozy has the political wisdom to offer compromise solutions. Therefore, his visit to the region is important for his assessment of the situation in the South Caucasus," he told Trend over the telephone.
Sarkozy will launch his visit to Armenia today, and on Friday Azerbaijan and Georgia as a part of his tour to the South Caucasus.
Military actions were launched in the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia in August 2008.
Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia and later Russian troops occupied the city and drove the Georgian military back to Georgia. Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Aug. 26 and established diplomatic relations with them on Sept. 9, 2008.
The South Caucasus region, Zharikin said, will remain in focus regardless of the outcome of the French elections. Foreign policy issues in Western countries contrary to domestic ones have a very high continuity in the transition of power from one party to another, he said.
"Therefore, any decisions and positions that will be laid during the visit will be incorporated into France's foreign policy priorities regardless the outcome of elections. Moreover, the country never had a divergence of opinion on South Caucasus issues, even while there was a transition of power from the French socialists to the right-wing party," he said.
He believes Sarkozy, by paying this visit, is trying to establish positions which will also be used by the next president of France.
Replying to the question about the importance of Sarkozy's visit for resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; however he noted that this is possible only in case of an identical position by the OSCE Minsk Group - France, Russia and the U.S., all of whom have dominated in recent years.
"This is not a sufficient condition, but is necessary. Here, it does not matter who will be the main negotiator between the parties. It does not have such fundamental importance in this case as it does in other matters. Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev has voiced a position similar to that of other players during the talks. There is no contradiction between them, " he said.