On December 26, Baku declared two employees of the French embassy persona non grata, the Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan reported. The ministry informed that French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Bouillon was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"It was brought to the attention of the French ambassador that two employees of the French embassy were declared persona-non-grata [undesirable person] by the Azerbaijani government due to their activities that were inconsistent with their diplomatic status and contradicted the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the information added.

According to the information, those persons were requested to leave the territory of Azerbaijan within 48 hours, and the corresponding note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was presented to the French ambassador.

No official statement has been published by the French side yet [CET 17:00]

Notably, in recent years, Azerbaijani officials have often criticized French officials. They accuse France of defending Armenia's position. But French officials do not accept such criticism.

Interestingly, this coincides with the publication of articles in Azerbaijan's state-affiliated media claiming to expose the French spy network in Azerbaijan. The articles mention that people allegedly conducting undercover work in prestigious international organizations have been detained and are under investigation. The reports also claim that Azerbaijan's special services were presented with evidence and documents about the activities of the French in the South Caucasus, the Middle East, Ukraine, and Moldova.