On December 22, the President of the Ile-de-France region of France, the candidate of the Republican Party for the presidential elections in France, Valery Perez, illegally visited the Khankendi city of the Republic of Azerbaijan, AzVision.az reports citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

"This visit, accompanied by other French politicians as part of the election campaign, is a violation of the country's national legislation, directed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. In this regard, the Chargé d'Affaires of France in our country was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was given a note of protest," the ministry said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protested against the illegal visit to the French Embassy and reminded that these French citizens, who seriously violated the requirements of the relevant laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, are responsible in accordance with our national legislation.

"The opposite side was informed that this step by a group of politicians from France damaged Azerbaijani-French bilateral relations, as well as seriously damaged France's prestige in the region and the role that it could play in the normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations after the end of the conflict. We would like to inform that the names of French citizens illegally visiting the territories of Azerbaijan have been included in the list of persons undesirable to enter our country," the statement said.

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