US Envoy Walk Out On UN Security Council Meeting To Protest France Comments

A diplomatic rift between the United States and France deepened on Monday after American diplomats walked out of a United Nations (UN)Security Council meeting while their French counterparts were speaking, accusing Paris of engaging in “disingenuous grandstanding” over Washington’s human rights record.

The unprecedented move came during a council session on Ukraine, days after the United States opposed the reappointment of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk for another four-year term.

Türk’s reappointment, approved on Friday by the UN General Assembly, received overwhelming backing, with 144 countries voting in favour, 10 against and 13 abstaining. The United States was among those that voted against the renewal, while France supported it.

The disagreement has further exposed growing tensions between Washington and its European allies under President Donald Trump, with disputes ranging from NATO commitments and potential changes to US troop deployments in Europe to Trump’s push for control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark.

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The latest confrontation was triggered by a post from France’s UN Mission in Geneva criticising the US position on Türk’s reappointment.

“The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it,” the mission wrote on social media.

Responding to the criticism, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz accused France of shielding countries with poor human rights records and backing a UN official who, according to him, had unfairly criticised democratic nations.

Waltz said France was “coddling some of the worst human rights abusers” and voting “for someone who has been lecturing, free, sovereign democracies like the United States, the UK, and Israel, while cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors.”

Following the walkout, US Deputy Ambassador Dan Negrea launched a fresh attack on France, accusing the country of displaying “moral outrage” and attempting to lecture other nations on human rights.

Negrea said the United States had supported France during moments when its security was threatened but would no longer tolerate what he described as unnecessary criticism.

The US has stood by France in every conflict where its “freedom has been imperiled” and tolerated its grandstanding “out of a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect,” he said.

“But no more,” Negrea added.

He further defended Washington’s position, saying, “Today, I remind them that it is the United States that remains the beacon of liberty for the world.”

“As such, we will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicized drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric and behave in a manner commensurate with their seat on this council,” he said.

The dispute centres partly on the role of the UN human rights chief, a position that often involves criticising governments, including powerful member states, over alleged violations.

Türk has criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s war in Gaza, and aspects of US immigration policies, where he warned of concerns relating to “racial profiling, surveillance and immigration enforcement.”

France’s UN Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont did not directly address the US walkout when given the opportunity to respond at the end of the meeting.

Instead, he highlighted the historical ties between both countries, noting France’s role in supporting American independence and its participation in events marking the United States’ 250th anniversary.

“The United Nations was created with the goal of working towards international peace and security, human rights and development,” Bonnafont said.

“All of that forms the spirit in which France works within the United Nations … to preserve this institution, its independence, its ability to act in service of the charter and act to serve human rights and peace.”

AFP