Will stay, won’t stay? For the moment, Paris is not moving but the military in power in Niger have announced that they have “instructed the police services” in order to proceed with the “expulsion” of the French ambassador to Niamey, in a letter addressed to Paris consulted this Thursday, August 31 by AFP, after the expiration of an ultimatum to the French diplomat to leave the country.
According to this letter from the Nigerien Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated Tuesday, Ambassador Sylvain Itté “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic staff of the French Embassy”. His “diplomatic cards and visas” as well as those of his family members “are cancelled”, specify the putschists, adding that the Nigerien police services “have been instructed in order to proceed with his expulsion”.
Last Friday, the military in power had given 48 hours to the French diplomat to leave the territory, which Paris refused. During the 29th conference of ambassadors on Monday August 28, Emmanuel Macron praised “the commitment of our ambassador in the field who remains despite the pressures, despite all the declarations of illegitimate authorities”. He also considered that the coup government was “illegitimate” and had no authority to base such a request. A week later, the risk of a withdrawal of the French ambassador still hovers. What are the countries with which France has severed its diplomatic relations where there is no longer an embassy? The Express takes stock.
North Korea
Along with Estonia, France is the only European country to have no diplomatic relations with North Korea. According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on January 1, 2023, France had no nationals in North Korea. There has not been a working visit to North Korea since 2011 (Asia director of the Quai d’Orsay in Pyongyang). The last Franco-North Korean meeting in France took place in October 2009.
However, a bilateral cultural relationship does exist with this dictatorship. France mainly conducts two cultural cooperation programs in North Korea relating to the promotion of French and archaeological cooperation. Paris also contributes to assistance to the North Korean population centered on food aid and support for French NGOs active in the country, such as Unicef.
Bhutan
France, like the four permanent members of the UN Security Council, does not have an embassy in this small South Asian country. Nevertheless, since July 2020, it has commissioned an Honorary Consul who monitors Franco-Bhutanese exchanges, in coordination with the French Embassy in Delhi and the French Consulate General in Calcutta, we learn on the Quai d ‘Orsay. A dozen French people live in Bhutan and economic relations between the two countries are very limited.
Yemen
The embassy closed in February 2015 due to threats of terrorist attacks. “Groups claiming to be al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula have threatened foreign representations in Yemen. The level of vigilance concerning the security of our embassy in Sanaa and of our nationals was already high,” said the spokesman for the Quai d’Orsay, Bernard Valero, to justify the closure of the embassy. Since then, it has not reopened and the team operates from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Syria
In March 2012, President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the closure of the French representation in Damascus to denounce the “scandal” of the repression carried out by the regime of Bashar al-Assad against its population. The French consulates in Damascus and Aleppo have also closed their doors.
Combined diplomatic missions
Apart from the rupture of diplomatic relations, some countries do not host an embassy due to a too low level of activity. Most often, the ambassador is then in residence in a neighboring country. This is the case of Sierra Leone, whose activities are managed by the French Embassy in Guinea, of Liechtenstein, whose work is carried out by the French representation in Switzerland, and of the Maldives, whose missions are grouped together in Sri Lanka.