Question 9597 — foreign policy

Summary

France maintains a long history of friendship with the Christian communities of the East, which contributes to the particular French position in the Middle East, and first of all to its privileged link with Lebanon. In the current context, marked by the persecution of Daesh and the general conflagration from which the first to suffer are people belonging to minorities, France has mobilized, more than any other country, in favor of Eastern Christians and other victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East. It acts out of loyalty to historically close populations, often French-speaking, and who turn to France with particular expectations; for consistency with the French global and universalist approach to human rights, including freedom of religion or belief; by conviction that human diversity, religious and ethnic diversity is an essential part of the identity of the Middle East and that it will not be possible to ensure peace, democracy and prosperity in this region if this diversity is destroyed. France has been at the forefront of the international effort to defeat jihadism. It fights and will continue to fight Daesh as part of the international coalition, until the jihadist group is sustainably eradicated from Syria and Iraq. It is engaged to stabilize the territories liberated by the Coalition and its allies. France has been at the forefront of mobilizing the international community in support of people belonging to these minorities. The major international conference it convened in Paris in September 2015 resulted in a concerted action plan by participating countries to help victims of ethnic and religious in the Middle East. Follow-up conferences, in Madrid in 2017 and in Brussels on May 14, made it possible to maintain the mobilization of the international community. During this last conference, particular importance was given to education during the debates. To relaunch this commitment again, France will organize a new follow-up conference in 2019. France has provided direct and concrete assistance, enabling victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East to recover from their ordeals. In particular, in 2015, it created a Support Fund for victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East. Through it, France has already committed 15 million euros, on nearly 60 concrete projects, which help the communities concerned, in Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. In 2017, she renewed this funds by adding 10 million euros. A priority of French action is support for refugees and displaced people, who are particularly vulnerable. The protection of their culture is one of the keys to maintaining minorities in a Middle East rich in its age-old diversity. As such, France is particularly committed to the protection and rehabilitation of the cultural and religious heritage of Eastern Christians and other minorities. At the international level, she notably did so on the occasion of the Abu Dhabi conference on heritage in danger, which she co-organized with the United Arab Emirates in December 2016. The President of the Republic has also recalled on numerous occasions the importance of the French-speaking world, particularly in the Middle East. Christian schools and in particular Catholic schools, in Lebanon and in several other countries of the Near and Middle Middle East have for several centuries made an essential contribution to the dissemination of the French language, and its values, for all of their students, whatever their faith. France's commitment to them is not intended to weaken, particularly in Lebanon which is the crucible of the Francophonie and Francophilia in the region. It is in this spirit that on the occasion of the official visit to France of the Patriarch Maronite (last May 28-30), the President of the Republic took the decision to renew a commitment that France had made in 1891 vis-à-vis the Maronite clergy allowing them to access study scholarships. The lasting maintenance of Christians and other minorities in the East requires that lasting political solutions that involve them be found. This is the meaning of France's action in support of a political solution negotiated in Syria, without which the Syrian regime will continue its work of predation and confessional polarization, with the consequence of continuing the regional conflagration. It is this negotiated political solution that will open the way to international financing for the reconstruction of Syria. Finally, the legislative elections in Iraq must mark an essential step towards the strengthening of democracy, the constitution of a inclusive government and the establishment of true national reconciliation. France is convinced that human, religious and ethnic diversity must remain an essential part of the Iraqi identity without which it will not be possible to ensure peace, democracy and prosperity.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

No documents linked.

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.