France apologized to the US for criticizing it on human rights

France apologized for criticizing the US on human rights

France's permanent mission to the UN in Geneva expressed regret over its statement criticizing the US human rights policy.

This refers to a post published by the French diplomatic mission on the social network X on July 25. It criticized the US, along with Russia and North Korea, for voting against extending the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

"Once upon a time, the US was a beacon in the field of human rights. Now it is no longer so. The world is no longer listening to it either," the French mission's post said.

This statement caused sharp protest from Washington. According to Reuters, the US delegation subsequently walked out of a meeting in protest while a French diplomat was speaking at the UN Security Council.

In addition, the US State Department suspended the process of appointing France's new ambassador to Washington. Aurélien Lechevallier, chief of staff to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, was nominated for the ambassadorial post at the end of June and was set to succeed Laurent Bili.

However, Washington froze the agreement required for his appointment.

In its new statement, France's mission to the UN expressed regret that the July 25 post questioned the US commitment to respecting human rights.

The mission also noted that the disagreement was related only to a single vote, and not to the issue of protecting human rights itself.

Washington, in turn, stated that it had taken note of France's statement. A US State Department spokesperson, in a comment to AFP, said that Washington is pleased to cooperate with France in promoting common values and interests.

At that time, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the diplomats had violated the Vienna Convention.