President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Armenia is crucial to the latter’s rating on the threshold of presidential election in France, according to the head of Caucasus Institute.

As political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan told a news conference in Yerevan, “with Sarkozy’s weakened position in France he could use the support of a large and consolidated Armenian community.”

“Armenia and France have always been maintaining favourable relations both on international level and in OSCE Minsk Group format,” the expert noted, stressing France’s strong economic presence in Armenia, as well as both countries’ cultural and social ties.