Romania – Meeting between Catherine Colonna and her Romanian counterpart (November 17, 2023)

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna will meet with her Romanian counterpart, Luminița Odobescu, in Paris on November 20.

France and Romania have a longstanding relationship based on trust and friendship and work closely together, both on a bilateral basis and within Europe. At their meeting, the two ministers will discuss bilateral cooperation on defense and major international crises, particularly the situation in the Middle East and the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Minister Colonna will reaffirm France’s involvement – having assumed the role of framework nation of NATO’s multinational battle group in Romania – in strengthening the Alliance’s deterrence and defense posture on Europe’s eastern flank. This military deployment is a very concrete example of France’s commitment to the security of its European partners.

We will also reiterate our joint determination to provide Ukraine with long-term support in every area and we will commend Romanian efforts to develop solidarity lanes for the export of Ukrainian grain. We will also reaffirm France’s support for Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We remain extremely vigilant in this regard.

Lastly, we will discuss the EU’s enlargement prospects and how it must prepare for them.

Sudan – France strongly condemns the ongoing fighting in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (November 17, 2023)

France is deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict in Sudan and the ensuing escalation of violence. It expresses its utmost concern over the serious deterioration in the security situation in Darfur. It condemns the perpetration of serious human rights violations by both parties. Given these atrocities, France expresses its full support for the efforts of the International Criminal Court and the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan established by the UN Human Rights Council.

France reiterates its calls to the parties to end their fighting immediately and unconditionally, and to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered safely and without hindrance. It calls on the warring parties to abide by the commitments they undertook in Jeddah to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access.

The parties must urgently engage in a political process to resolve the conflict, in which Sudanese civilians and their democratic aspirations must be taken into account. France supports all peace initiatives aimed at resolving the conflict and we are working with our partners to improve coordination between them. We hail the efforts that are being made by the African Union, IGAD, neighboring countries, and the United States and Saudi Arabia.

To date, France has also provided €55 million in aid to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of Sudan and Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries.

UN – France’s reelection to UNESCO’s Executive Board (November 15, 2023)

On November 15, France was reelected to the UNESCO Executive Board for the 2023-2027 term. We thank the countries that placed their trust in us.

As a founding member and the host state for UNESCO’s headquarters, France priorities education, culture, the sciences, information and communication, both as a matter of domestic and foreign policy. France is one of only two countries to have had a continuous seat on the Executive Board since the organization was founded.

As a member of the Executive Board, France will maintain its commitment to serving the organization and supporting its priorities, its standard-setting work and its efforts on the ground. We reiterate our full support for the work carried out by Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

Guatemala (November 17, 2023)

France once again expresses its deep concern over new legal actions targeting the president-elect and vice president-elect. Their implementation would pose a serious threat to the transition process, the rule of law and democracy in Guatemala.

France supported the deployment of an EU election observation mission, which concluded that the elections, whose results were certified by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, were conducted fairly.

France calls on all the Guatemalan authorities to respect the will of the Guatemalan people, as expressed in the presidential election of August 2023.