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Political Relations
Relations between France and the United States are especially robust today, as evidenced by several recent instances of bilateral visits in the political sphere.
On July 6, 2012, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton represented the United States at a conference on Syria at the Elysée Palace, the Presidential headquarters in Paris.
On July 18 and 19, French Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Pierre Moscovici, visited the United States. He discussed the status of the euro currency zone and European economic policy with Christine Lagarde, Executive Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Benjamin Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. Mr. Moscovici also met with Timothy Geithner, former U.S. Secretary of Treasury; Jim Yong Kim, President of World Bank Group; and Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council.
On July 22, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, Geneviève Fioraso, and French Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Marisol Touraine, also came to Washington, D.C., to represent France at an international conference on AIDS.
On August 2, Steve Beshear, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, met with Laurent Beauvais, President of the Regional Council of Basse-Normandie, in France. They visited the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, which was retaken by American troops on D-Day.
French President François Hollande attended the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, where he and Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius addressed key issues, including the conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East.
Mary Fallin, Governor of Oklahoma, was in France from October 14-15 to promote Oklahoma’s economic development.
On October 25 and 26, French Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, Innovation, and the Digital Economy, visited Boston to launch the “Say Oui to France, Say Oui to Innovation” campaign. The campaign aims to attract direct foreign investment in France, as well as strengthen French-American economic relations.
Mr. Hollande telephoned Mr. Obama on November 8, just two days after the U.S. Presidential election, to congratulate him on winning a second term. Since then, the two Presidents have maintained regular contact as they continue to work together on the full breadth of French-American political relations.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry assumed his post on January 31, 2013. Mr. Fabius congratulated him during a telephone conversation. France is committed to sustaining political cooperation with the United States during and beyond his tenure.
On February 4, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met with Mr. Hollande in Paris, where they discussed French military intervention in Mali, the conflict in Syria and the countries’ mutual support of the Syrian National Coalition, Iran’s nuclear program, the Middle East peace process, French-American economic partnership, and climate change.
From June 17 through 23, 2013, Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, is expected to attend the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Exhibition Center, where he will lead a delegation of political and commercial stakeholders from his state.
