Foreign policy of François Mitterrand

François Mitterrand's foreign policy emphasized European unity[1] and the preservation of France's special relationships with its former colonies in the face of "Anglo-Saxon influence."[2] He served as President of France for two 7-year terms, from 1981 to 1995. A part of the enacted policies was formulated in the Socialist Party's 110 Propositions for France, the electoral program for the 1981 presidential election. He had a warm and effective relationship with the conservative German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. They promoted French-German bilateralism in Europe and strengthened military cooperation between the two countries.

Mitterrand's style

Pursuing Charles de Gaulle's interpretation of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, Mitterrand retained foreign affairs as part of the "reserved affairs" of the President, and particularly focused on them during the Cohabitation with Prime minister Jacques Chirac (1986–88).

Foreign policies were determined by several different branches of Mitterrand's government, the foreign policy advisers of the president's staff, the prime minister and his advisers, the Ministry of Defense, and certain civil servants in the Quai d'Orsay, often with little coordination. French diplomat François Heisbourg described Mitterrand's governing style as maintaining as many options as possible until forced to pursue a particular course. However, once he made a choice he kept his ministers on a tight leash. Defense Minister Jean-Pierre Chevènement lost his ministry over his opposition to French participation in the First Gulf War.[1][3]

Germany

While he supported German reunification, Mitterrand was reluctant to take action because Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev warned it would lead to a military coup d'état in the Soviet Union. Mitterrand did speak in favour of reunification in July 1989.[1]

Israel

In March 1982 Mitterrand became the first French President to visit Israel since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.[4] He spoke at the Knesset about Israel's right to security and in favor of Palestinian state, a speech praised by diplomatic adviser Hubert Védrine as a "masterpiece of Mitterrandian farsightedness, tact, and courage."[5] Prior to his presidency he supported the Camp David Accords.[6]

As Israeli involvement in the Lebanese Civil War grew, Mitterrand felt that Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin had lied to him about Israel's "limited aims" of the June 6 campaign in southern Lebanon.[5] Mitterrand condemned the Israeli siege of Beirut during the summer of 1982 and he sent French troops to secure the safe evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leadership and fighters from Lebanon. Mitterrand's calls for mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO went unheard for many years but, after the PLO recognized the state of Israel, Mitterrand welcomed the PLO leader, Yasir Arafat, in Paris, in May 1989.[7]

New Zealand

The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique,[8] was an operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), carried out on July 10, 1985. It aimed to sink the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, the Rainbow Warrior in the port of Auckland, New Zealand, to prevent her from interfering in a nuclear test in Moruroa.

The scandal resulted in the resignation of the French Defence Minister Charles Hernu, and the subject remained controversial. It was twenty years afterwards that the personal responsibility of French President François Mitterrand was admitted.

Rwanda

Main articles: Rwandan Genocide and Paul Barril

The French daily newspaper Le Monde printed newly declassified government memos and diplomatic telegrams revealing Mitterrand's support for Habyariamana's regime on July 6, 2007. The official French policy was to push Habyarimana in sharing power, while stopping Paul Kagamé's FPR's military advance, supported by Uganda.[9] On April 2, 1993, after an agreement between Habyarimana and Kagamé which prepared the August 1993 Arusha Accords, conservative Prime minister Edouard Balladur envisioned to send 1,000 more soldiers, a proposition accepted by Mitterrand.[9] The documents prove that the French government was aware of ethnic cleansings committed by Hutus extremists as soon as February 1993, a year before the assassination of Habyarimana which triggered a full-scale genocide.[9]

Yugoslavia

Further information: Yugoslav wars

Mitterrand opposed Germany's rapid recognition of Croatia's independence, fearing this would lead to the violent discomposition of Yugoslavia. He advocated for a common, European recognition of Croatia, and to "suggest to Serbs and Croats to retain a link between themselves." He declared on 14 December 1991 to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper : "We don't have any interest that Europe explodes in a thousand pieces." [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nuttall, Simon J. European Foreign Policy, 2000. Page 41.
  2. ↑ Mitterrand's role revealed in Rwandan genocide warning, July 3, 2007/ The Independent
  3. ↑ Cole, Alistair. François Mitterrand: A Study in Political Leadership, 1994. Page 135.
  4. ↑ Thody, Philip Malcolm Waller. Europe Since 1945, 2000. Page 250.
  5. 1 2 Tiersky, Ronald. François Mitterrand: A Very French President, 2003. Page 366.
  6. ↑ Jamal Raji Nassar and Roger Heacock. Intifada: Palestine at the Crossroads, 1990. Page 262.
  7. ↑ Jean-Pierre Filiu, "Mitterrand and the Palestinians", Journal of Palestine Studies, 150, winter 2009, p.34.
  8. ↑ Bremner, Charles (July 11, 2005). "Mitterrand ordered bombing of Rainbow Warrior, spy chief says". The Times (London). Retrieved 2006-11-16.
  9. 1 2 3 Génocide rwandais : ce que savait l'Elysée, Le Monde, 2 July 2007 (French)
  10. ↑ INTERVIEW ACCORDEE PAR M. FRANCOIS MITTERRAND PRESIDENT DE LA REPUBLIQUE A LA FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG, on a French governmental website (French)

Further reading


See also

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