Credit:  UN Photo/Mark Garten  /  Nicolas de Rivière (left), Permanent Representative of the Republic of France to the United Nations, presents his credentials to Secretary-General António Guterres July 8, 2019. Monsieur de Rivière is the President of the UN Security Council the month of June, 

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK –  FRANCE  officially took over as President of the UN Security Council Monday for the month of June.    Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the UN and President of the Security Council in June,  laid out the Council’s programme of work for the month.  Ambassador  de Rivière addressed journalists Monday via a video teleconference. The presidency of the council is held by each of the members for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states’ Names.  France  follows Estonia which held the presidency the month of May.  The Security Council is currently meeting by video due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  “This year we are working with special conditions related to the COVID-19 crisis. So we will continue to work by video conference as we have been doing. It works well. It allows us to exchange, decide for the  Council members to fulfill its mandate,”  de Rivière said.  Ambassador de Rivière said there will be a high priority on Africa in the Security Council’s June agenda.  The French ambassador said there will be a meeting to address issues in the  SAHEL, and another meeting on the G5-Sahel. 

West Africa nation Mali will also be the subject of a meeting in which the Security Council is expected to renew its mandate for the UN MINUSMA peace keeping mission in Mali.  Terror and violent attacks linked to militant Islamic groups in the Africa SAHEL  region have increased dramatically during the past few years.  The main African countries on the front lines in the battle against terrorism in the dangerous Sahel region are Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso.  “The DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Sudan will also be discussed,” ambassador de Rivière said.    France Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is expected to address the  Security Council in June.   The French ambassador said COVID-19 is a priority and is hoping a resolution will be adopted in response to UN Secretary-General  António Guterrez’ call for a global ceasefire in support of the bigger battle against  the virus. 

The Middle East, and vulnerable refugees in global crisis will also be priorities in June Security Council Agenda.

There will be an open debate via videoconference (VTC) on children and armed conflict this month. Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict; Henrietta Fore, the Executive Director of UNICEF; and a civil society representative are expected to brief  A briefing by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, is planned as an open VTC.  He is expected to highlight the situation of refugees in several country-specific cases on the Council’s agenda as well as the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on refugee populations.  Syria, Iran, Libya, Israel and Palestine are also subjects of planned meetings.

France To Make French The Official Language Spoken In UN Security Council Chamber In June

Nicolas De Rivière, Permanent Representative of the Republic of France to the United Nations.  UN Photo/Mark Garten

“The novelty that we (France) are going to bring is that this time multilingualism, which was the victim of the  virus, will no longer be the  case in June.   I have decided that the French presidency will be held in (the) French (language).  I will therefore chair the meetings in French, and will speak French until the Council can return, I hope, to normal working methods at the United Nations. French is the working language of the UN.”

-Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the UN

The French ambassador said the statements he will read in the Security Council’s public on-line sessions will be distributed in English to all Council members beforehand and that he will conduct basic business in French, which will be translated. “We don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable…nobody will lose anything in the translations.  This (using the French language) is about cultural diversity. The UN is just one of 194 nations”.

France And Germany Coordinate Joint UN Security Council Chair To Promote Multilateralism

Credit: / auswaertiges-amt.de /  German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and France Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at the United Nations Headquarters in New York 2019.  © Florian Gaertner/photothek.net

The French ambassador also said France and Germany will continue its joint UN Security Council Chair like last year when the two countries consecutively chaired the Council in March and April 2019.  Germany will take over the Presidency of the Security Council in July after France. The two European countries agreed to form a  sort of Franco-German multilateral alliance by jointly preparing the  Council’s working agenda for the two months.

“We are friends. We share the same values. We are both European. You can make friends with your neighbors even if you have been enemies. Other nations can follow our example. It sets a good example for the rest of the world and the UN”. 

-the French ambassador explained of the Franco-German alliance. 

Ambassador  de Rivière  Experienced Hand In Foreign Affairs

Credit: Wikipedia Public Domain /  During the NATO Ministerial in Brussels, Belgium on April 27, 2018, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (second from the right) meets with French Director General for Political and Security Affairs Nicolas de Rivière (far left), UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (second from the left), and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (right).

Monsieur de Rivière took office as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York  July 2019.   A graduate from the “Condorcet” class of French Ecole nationale d’administration (ENA),    de Rivière was previously Director General of Political and Security Affairs at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2014-2019).  He also served as Assistant Secretary for United Nations, International Organizations, Human Rights and Francophonie (2011-2014) and Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York (2009-2010).   De Rivière has also served at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in New York (2005-2010) as well as in Washington (1997-2001) and The Hague (1994-1997). Born in 1963, de Rivière holds a law degree from the Institut d’études politiques and graduated from the École nationale d’administration in 1992.  Most notably, de Rivière is a veteran negotiator in the Iran nuclear talks.