French diplomats around the world went on strike on Thursday for the first time in 20 years to protest reforms launched by President Emmanuel Macron that would lift their special status and merge them with the rest of the top civil service.
From Beijing to Paris, strikers posted photos and messages under the hashtag on Twitter # diplo2metier (diplomat by profession), protesting that theirs was a specialized job requiring language skills and experience that could not simply be replaced by another government post. “My baker is not my butcher,” said Jerome Duo, a diplomat.
“I don’t know anyone who is against the strike,” a former high-ranking French diplomat told the Financial Times. “They are all in favor, senior diplomats and others, and even contract workers who complain about the lack of financial resources.”
Dominique de Villepin, a former prime minister and foreign minister and a spokesman for France’s refusal to join George W. Bush’s catastrophic war in Iraq two decades ago, said suppressing the diplomatic corps would reduce French influence around the world.
“Without this diplomatic corps, there would be no opposition to US intervention in Iraq in 2003, nor to the Paris climate agreement in 2015,” he said. “For France, this means a loss of independence, a loss of skills and a loss of historical memory that will weigh heavily in the coming years as the world reshapes itself – and just as there are major crises in Ukraine, the South China Sea and the Sahel.”
Since the days of Charles de Gaulle, French presidents have usually taken control of major foreign policy initiatives, leaving internal affairs to the prime minister and allowing Quai d’Orsay, the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry on the left bank of the Seine, to deal with minor crises and day-to-day governance. of foreign affairs.
Macron has been particularly active in international diplomacy, especially in Europe, and before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, he complained about the “deep state” in the form of resistance from the French Foreign Ministry against his attempts to woo Putin and return Russia to the European eye.
Macron’s reform of senior government officials, presented as a move against elitism, is seen by diplomats as a step too far. They say the removal of the two historic corps for about 800 ambassadors and advisers – of the ministry’s 13,500 employees – would mean that a civil servant from the agriculture ministry could be appointed number two at the embassy and end up as interim case manager. the absence of the ambassador without diplomatic training.
“It presents itself as breaking down silos,” the former diplomat said. “But this is part of a larger presidential movement. Macron does not want to be limited. . . So we are moving towards less state neutrality and more politicization.
The strikers are demanding a public hearing to respond to their complaints about reforms and multiple budget and staff cuts, and are seeking assurances that they will be able to continue their careers as diplomats without being transferred to other departments in the short term.
Macron’s appointment last month of Catherine Colonna, a career diplomat who most recently served as ambassador to London as foreign minister in his new government, is seen by Quai d’Orsay as a wise choice that could help calm angry diplomats. .
“We need each of you,” she told them in Quai as she took over. “You can count on me to never forget who I am or where I come from – and I come from this place.”
Add Comment