Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo declared victory in her fight to win re-election in the French capital with 49.3% of the votes, per France 24.
Hidalgo, a Socialist Party member, beat conservative candidate and Azerbaijani ally Rachida Dati in France’s municipal elections. She was first elected as Paris mayor in 2014.
She is backed by the Europe Ecology – The Greens party (EELV), which gained strong influence nationwide in Sunday’s voting. Only 40 percent of voters cast ballots as French voters were required to wear masks, maintain social distancing while in queues and carry their own pens to sign voting registers.
Hidalgo for her commitment to Armenia and Artsakh, 61-year-old Anne Hidalgo wins her second municipal election. She has been mayor of Paris since 2014, succeeding Bertrand Delanoë.
Dati is known for her close links with authoritarian and non-democratic Azerbaijani authorities. She has been member of Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan, which was thought of as the main tool for Azerbaijan’s “caviar policy” in France.
Rachida Dati’s friendship with Aliyev’s regime was obvious still in 2011, when she organized a huge dinner in honor of 1st Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva. The candidate of Paris Mayor made announcements against the Armenians living in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) particularly after the April war of 2016.
Rachida Dati in 2009: ”We regard Azerbaijan’s diplomacy as an example, and the conduct of the intercultural dialogue to maintain security meets the interests of the whole world”.
The Editor
