French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was decorated Monday by Mexico on the occasion of his sixth trip to Mexico City, as relations between the two countries are going through their best moment in years, according to his counterpart Marcelo Ebrard .
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador presented the French Minister with the “Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle”, the greatest distinction his country can bestow on a foreigner, he recalled.
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“I said earlier that it was my sixth trip to Mexico as Minister of the French Republic. I don't think I've done more than one in any other Latin American country. This is already the sign of a very strong relationship, ”
Jean-Yves Le Drian later told the press, former Minister of Defense under François Hollande (2012-2017). The minister is due to inaugurate a consulate general of France in Monterrey (north) on Tuesday, a first for the French diplomatic network since 2009 according to the Quai d'Orsay. The minister recalled that 40,000 French lived in Mexico.
France is one of Mexico's main European economic partners, along with Spain and Italy, but behind Germany.
"We are living the best moment in the Mexico-France relationship since the beginning of the 21st century, and probably beyond,"
said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard. The Mexican minister announced that he would go to France in February from February 9 to 11 to participate in Brittany in a summit organized by France on the safeguard of the oceans.
"France will lead the European Union during the first half of 2022, and we are very interested in the modernization of the agreement between Mexico and the European Union, we hope that we will get there",
added the Mexican minister, referring to a comprehensive agreement with a trade and economic component dating back several years.
The two countries signed a joint declaration as well as a convention to support reading.
France will be the guest of honor at the Mexico City Aerospace Fair in 2023. France and Mexico cooperate in several areas, from pandemic prevention to aeronautics, including the fight against illicit trafficking in works of art. 'art.
The excellence of the Franco-Mexican relationship marks "multilateralism by proof and by action", summarized Jean-Yves Le Drian.
President Macron has not, however, visited Mexico, nor President Lopez Obrador has visited France.