The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, assured the diplomats on Saturday of all her "
confidence
" at a time when the Quai d'Orsay is going through a crisis, during the handover of power with her predecessor Jean-Yves Le Drian, warmly praised by his teams.
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In a brief speech, Catherine Colonna, former ambassador in London, addressed the diplomats: “
my message is clear.
We need each and every one of you.
You can count on me to never forget who I am or where I come from, you have my full confidence
,” she said.
Catherine Colonna, career diplomat, renowned for her professionalism, arrives in a ministry plagued by unease due to a reform providing for the end of the prestigious diplomatic corps by 2023. A call for a strike has been launched for the 2 June by six unions and a group of 400 young diplomats.
"
Let's all get to work together
," she told her teams in a speech where she did not mention the international crises.
Le Drian settles accounts with the Australian Prime Minister
She assured that she would carry out her mission with "
humility, determination and conviction
", and expressed all her "
recognition
" and her "
deep esteem
" for her predecessor Jean-Yves Le Drian, in office for ten years, five years at La Défense and five years at the Quai d'Orsay.
“
You have been a very great minister
,” she told him.
The latter, moved, spoke of the crises he had faced, the war in Ukraine, Brexit, the jihadist threat, and a world "
in the process of brutalization
".
"
It is with great emotion that I am about to leave this beautiful house
," he said, very warmly and applauded for a long time by the staff present at the handover.
Read also“His defeat suits me very well”: Le Drian takes advantage of his handover speech to settle accounts with the Australian Prime Minister
In his farewell speech, Jean-Yves Le Drian allowed himself the luxury of sending a scathing message to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, defeated in the legislative elections on Saturday.
This defeat “
suits me very well
”, declared Jean-Yves Le Drian, castigating the “
cynicism
”, the “
brutality
” and the “
incompetence
” at the origin of a masterful diplomatic quarrel between Paris and Canberra.
Scott Morrison broke a gigantic contract for the sale of French submarines last September, preferring Anglo-American nuclear-powered submarines.
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"His defeat suits me very well!": Jean-Yves Le Drian tackles the Australian Prime Minister during his speech