UpFront talks to French Ambassador to US, Gerard Araud

Gerard Araud, serving French Ambassador to the United States:

• Calls the extended state of emergency imposed by the French government after bloody attacks in Paris and Nice in the last year a success: “Even if we have saved one life, I think, it will be a success.”
• Denies the link between France’s foreign policy and an increased threat of attacks at home: “We are not supposed to wait for these terrorist attacks. When people want to kill you, you have to kill them first.”
• Says France faces a challenge to accommodate its Muslim citizens in a country built on Christian roots: “We have to do it and we’ll do it. But it will take time. And there will be, again, there will be…mistakes will be committed.”
• Ahead of the 2017 Presidential election, says the French public are “very critical” and at home, the country is facing “a social economic crisis.”

(Washington, D.C. ­­ – 18th November) – In an interview with Al Jazeera English’s current affairs show UpFront recorded twelve months after the deadly attacks in Paris, Gerard Araud, the serving French Ambassador to the United States, told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan that the state of emergency imposed by the government had been a success. 

Araud accepted that the French government “deserve some criticisms” for the response, but overall the heightened security measures have been effective. “Even if we have saved one life I think it will be a success,” he said.

When asked whether France’s foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa may have made the country more vulnerable to threats from groups such as ISIL or Al Qaeda, Ambassador Araud downplayed any links between the two. “We are not supposed to wait for these terrorist attacks. When people want to kill you, you have to kill them first,” he said.

Araud was asked about a statement made by current French President Francois Hollande, who said that there was a problem with Islam. Araud said France faces a challenge to accommodate “our Muslim citizens in a society which was basically built on Christian, or Judeo-Christian roots.”

“We have to do it and we’ll do it. But it will take time. And there will be, again, there will be mistakes will be committed.”

Next year, France elects a new President. The current one, Francois Hollande, faces approval ratings as low as four percent. “We the French are very critical,” explains Araud. Adding that in the run-up to the elections, France was experiencing a “social economic crisis.”

When questioned by Mehdi Hasan about France’s strict secularism laws, Araud stood by the law banning religious symbols, including the headscarf, in schools. The headscarf, said Araud, was a “symbol of religious oppression.”

- ends -  

Note to Editors

• This ‘UpFront’ interview with Gerard Araud airs Friday November 18th at 19:30GMT.
• The full show will be available through this link: www.aljazeera.com/upfront from 19:30GMT onwards.
• If using quotes please credit Al Jazeera English and ‘UpFront’ and please add this link to online copywww.aljazeera.com/upfront
• Follow ‘UpFront’ on Twitter@AJUpFront