France Appoints Olivier Decottignies as New Ambassador to Armenia

PARIS — France has appointed a new ambassador to Armenia, Armenia’s Honorary Consul to France Denis Jorkaeff said.

“Olivier Decottignies, senior foreign affairs advisor, has been appointed as Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Republic of Armenia, starting from July 21, 2023,” Jorkaeff said in a tweet.

Olivier Decottignies will succeed Anne Louyot, who has been in charge of the French diplomatic mission in Armenia since August 2021.

French President Emmanuel Macron signed the relevant appointment decree on July 6.12.

Olivier Decottignies, a French career diplomat, was a 2015-2016 diplomat in residence at The Washington Institute. From 2012 to 2015, he served as second counselor in the French Embassy in Iran, overseeing the nuclear portfolio and Iran’s regional policies. Before that, he served in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, where he worked on political-military issues, especially NATO and EU operations in Libya, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.

Decottignies currently serves as French consul to Iraqi Kurdistan.