This is a very important change at the top of French intelligence. The boss of the DGSI Nicolas Lerner will take over the management of the prestigious General Directorate of External Security (DGSE), announced Wednesday on X (ex-Twitter) the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu.
His appointment would have been confirmed by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron in the Council of Ministers this Wednesday.
“As we open a new page in the history of the DGSE, I would like to share with Bernard Émié the recognition of the Nation for his 6 years at the head of the service,” wrote the minister. “All my best wishes to Nicolas Lerner to continue to protect France, in the shadows.”
The youngest boss of the DGSE
A graduate of ENA in 2004, the same promotion as a certain Emmanuel Macron, Nicolas Lerner had been at the head of the DGSI since 2018, when he had at the time become the youngest boss of French domestic intelligence at the time. age of 40 years. Now aged 45, he will also become the youngest boss of the DGSE.
He therefore takes the place of Bernard Émié, who has been in post since 2017 at the DGSE, a long mandate at the head of the French secret services.