France, which for a long time has taken a contrasting stance on the Garabagh issue vis-à-vis Baku, has appointed a new ambassador to Azerbaijan. Sophie Lagoutte will replace her predecessor, Anne Boillon, and has expressed considerable enthusiasm about commencing her work in the country.

But who exactly is the newly appointed ambassador to Azerbaijan? And what steps does she intend to take to help thaw the frosty relations between Azerbaijan and France?

Sophie Lagoutte has been named Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Azerbaijan, a position officially decreed on 18 August 2025. She previously held the rank of Administratrice de l’État du deuxième grade (Administrator of the State, second grade) within the French civil service.

She entered the French diplomatic corps in 2008, after being admitted through the diplomatic service entry competition.

Her early years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs included a role as Justice and Internal Affairs Editor within the Directorate for European Union Affairs in Paris.

After passing a subsequent competition, in 2011, she became Counsellor for Foreign Affairs and served at France’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels.

From 2015 to 2017, she was Press Officer and Political Counsellor at the French Embassy in Israel. Between 2017 and 2019, she served as Deputy Director of the Cabinet of the Minister in charge of European Affairs and as Europe Counsellor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, back in Paris. She then served as Consul General of France in Montreal, starting in August 2019 after her nomination that June.

France–Azerbaijan........

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