France’s ambassador to the United States, Aurélien Lechevallier, began his Washington mission Tuesday after presenting a copy of his credentials, the French Embassy said, AFP reported, as reports tied the approval delay to U.N. tensions.
President Emmanuel Macron signed the decree appointing Lechevallier on Sept. 24, and France published it in the Journal officiel the following day. AFP separately reported that an unnamed U.S. State Department official told the agency Washington granted Lechevallier agrément on Sept. 15. Agrément is the receiving state’s diplomatic approval for a proposed ambassador. The U.S. government has not publicly confirmed that approval date.
AFP and Le Monde linked the delay in approval to a dispute that followed France’s criticism of a U.S. vote at the United Nations. Their reports connected the delay to a July 25 post on X by France’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. in Geneva. Washington has not publicly confirmed that the post caused the delay.
The United Nations General Assembly voted July 24 to renew Volker Türk’s appointment as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights for four years. The vote was 144 in favor, 10 against and 13 abstentions; the United States was among those voting against. France’s mission criticized the U.S. vote on X the next day.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. diplomats left a July 27 Security Council meeting after France’s representative began speaking. In a Sept. 11 statement, the French mission expressed regret over its post and said the disagreement concerned one vote, rather than human rights more broadly, Reuters reported.
Article 4 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations leaves acceptance of a proposed ambassador to the receiving country, without obliging it to explain why it withholds consent. Le Monde described withholding agrément as rare, citing French nominees in the Vatican in 2015 and Burkina Faso in 2023. It reported that Washington had not previously refused a French envoy.
