In France, diplomats went on a one-day strike today in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s decree that would have facilitated the transition from outside to the Foreign Ministry.
France’s diplomats and ambassadors working around the world announced their support for the strike with statements on their social media account.
A demonstration of diplomats is also scheduled to be held today in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris.
An article published in Le Monde last week, signed by about 500 diplomats, criticized Macron’s decree issued in April. “This decree poses the danger of the disappearance of professional diplomats,” the joint article said.
According to sources monitoring trade union actions in France, today’s strike is the first work stoppage among diplomats in 20 years.
The reform, which will come into force with Macron’s decree, is expected to affect about 800 diplomats.
With this reform, which envisages significant changes in the functioning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foundations of which were first laid in France in the 16th century, diplomats will be included in a wide pool of other civil servants. Transitions to the ministry from outside will be allowed, and for diplomatic missions, ministry staff will have to compete with outsiders.
19 avril 2022 pic.twitter.com/JPDySrUuc6
— Dominique de Villepin (@Villepin) April 19, 2022
Dominique de Villepin, a former French foreign minister and one-time prime minister who also comes from a career diplomat, called Macron’s reform a “historic mistake” in an earlier statement on his social media account.
The French Foreign Ministry employs 13,500 people.
