What do France, Azerbaijan, and New Caledonia have in common? Looking at a map you would think, not much. France is in Europe, Azerbaijan in Asia and New Caledonia is way out in the Pacific Ocean. The three nations have no obvious links, except for the fact that New Caledonia was “colonized” by the French back in the mid-19th century and is now part of that country’s overseas territories.
Now why in heaven’s name would Azerbaijan do this? Simple. After a 2023 offensive by Azerbaijan to reclaim control of the territory known as Nagorno-Karabakh, long disputed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, France openly supported Armenia. Hence, this is Azerbaijan’s way of sticking it to France.
Hard to believe. This all underlines that the issue of foreign interference—and its close cousin transnational repression, which involves threats to and even killing of individuals in diasporas around the world—is a growing problem in many countries and is posing new challenges to law enforcement and security services. That states are behind most of these actions, rather than individuals or groups, makes it even more complicated.
Meanwhile, back in Canada...
One would think this allegation would merit an immediate reply and a promise to put an end to this action. It is getting increasingly difficult to guess what it will take for this issue to receive the urgency it deserves. We are being penetrated, up to the buying off of unnamed elected officials, by foreign powers which do not have C.
