The French Permanent Mission to the United Nations expressed its regret for publishing a blog post criticizing a US vote during the General Assembly meeting, in a move expected to contribute to facilitating approval of the appointment of France's new ambassador to Washington.
The Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in Geneva, in a statement on Friday, expressed its “regret” over the post that was published on July 25 on the “X” platform, and questioned the United States’ commitment to human rights.
The mission wrote in its statement published on its website in English on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks: “France and the United States recently took different positions regarding a vote in the United Nations General Assembly. This discrepancy was limited to only one vote, and was not related to defending human rights.”
The statement added: “Public differences of opinion over a single vote do not stand in the way of close dialogue with the United States, nor do they call into question our historic alliance or our ability to work together to promote peace, stability, and prosperity, including within multilateral forums.”
This admission of error was welcomed in Washington after it suspended the procedures for appointing the new French ambassador to the United States. Because of this disagreement.
A US State Department official, who requested anonymity, told Agence France-Presse: “We took note of France’s statement, we appreciate it, and we look forward to working together to promote common values and interests.”
The US State Department froze approval of the appointment of Aurélien Le Chevalier, who was chosen by President Emmanuel Macron to be ambassador to Washington to succeed Laurent Bailey.
Le Chevalier currently holds the position of Chief of Staff of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. US approval to choose the French ambassador is usually a formality, but it has remained pending since the dispute erupted.
On July 24, the United States was one of 10 countries that voted in the United Nations General Assembly against extending Volker Türk’s term as head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, joining countries such as North Korea, Russia, Nicaragua, and others.
The French mission wrote on the “X” platform after Washington’s strong opposition to renewing the term of Türk, who repeatedly criticized US policies during the era of President Donald Trump: “The United States has been a beacon of human rights. "This is no longer the case."
This criticism was met with an immediate reaction from Washington, as the US ambassador withdrew from a UN Security Council meeting days later when the French ambassador took the floor, as an expression of his country’s protest against these comments. Then the US State Department obstructed the procedures for approving Le Chevalier's appointment.
The head of the Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom accused Ukraine on Sunday of targeting trucks transporting diesel fuel, killing two Russian soldiers, and of deliberately threatening the safety of the Zaporizhya nuclear plant in Ukraine, which is controlled by Russia.
Alexei Likhachev said that the attack occurred on Friday and also resulted in the injury of other Russian soldiers.
Russian forces imposed control over the Zaporizhya station, which is the largest in Europe and includes six reactors, in the first weeks of the war on Ukraine that broke out in February 2022. The two sides exchange accusations from time to time of committing acts that endanger the safety of the station and increase the risk of a nuclear accident, according to what Reuters reported.
On Friday, Ukrainian forces launched “a series of joint attacks” on fuel trucks transporting diesel to the station, Likhachev said in a statement.
He added: “The attacks occurred very close to the vicinity of the station site.”
He continued: “Two soldiers were killed, and a large number of Russian soldiers were injured, some of them seriously. “They were all participating in supporting this purely civilian mission.”
Fuel is extremely important to the station, as diesel generators provide the energy needed to cool the nuclear fuel in the reactors when the two external lines supplying electricity to the station are cut off. Both lines were disrupted for about three weeks during August and September.
Ukraine demands that Russia hand over the station and return its management to Kiev, a demand rejected by Moscow. The fuel does not currently generate any electricity.
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency has permanently deployed a monitoring team at the station, as well as at the three other operating Ukrainian stations.
The agency has mediated several times when skirmishes occurred, and last month helped reach a temporary ceasefire in order to carry out maintenance work and restore external electricity sources.
Swedes will vote today (Sunday) in an election that would either bring a far-right party into government for the first time, or return the country to the path of liberalism for which it has long been famous.
Several opinion polls conducted last week indicate that the center-left Swedish opposition is narrowly ahead of the ruling right-wing bloc before the parliamentary elections scheduled for today (Sunday), which indicates the possibility of a change in the government, according to Reuters news agency.
But Prime Minister Ulf Kristjersson, who had trailed in opinion polls throughout his four years in office, began to close the gap in the last few weeks of the election campaign, while his rival Magdalena Andersson and her Social Democratic Party fell behind.
Supporters of the right-wing bloc say that its policies have helped curb gang violence and significantly reduce immigration, and that a victory would be a form of popular support for this approach and more similar measures in the coming years.
“We can unite parties, voters and issues in a common framework,” Kristjersson, who has pledged to bring the far-right Sweden Democrats into government if his bloc wins, told reporters in parliament this week. "That's why we get things done."
Critics argue that this agenda undermines civil liberties, while forcing immigrants to conform more closely to Swedish cultural norms or leave the country under the burden of a “carrot and stick” policy.
Voting centers open their doors at eight in the morning (06:00 GMT), and preliminary results are scheduled to appear immediately after they close at 18:00 GMT.
The Sweden Democrats' electoral success will be welcomed by Europe's rising far-right parties, boosted by a major victory for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party in German state elections this month.
The right has already agreed to form a four-party government led by Kristerson if he wins, while Anderson's path to power appears more ambiguous.
