The US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, has been blocked from directly accessing French government ministers after he failed to appear to a summons by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
Kushner had been summoned over comments made about the death of French far-right activist Quentin Deranque earlier this month, but “did not appear” on Monday, a statement from France’s foreign affairs ministry, the Quai d’Orsay, said.
“Faced with this apparent misunderstanding of the basic expectations of an ambassador’s mission, the Minister has requested that he no longer have direct access to members of the French government,” the statement said.
Kushner will still be permitted to carry out his duties and have “diplomatic exchanges” with officials.
The spat deepened further on Tuesday when Barrot said the US ambassador’s failure to appear on Monday will “naturally affect his ability to carry out his mission in our country.”
The French foreign minister insisted that while Kushner’s actions will not “affect the relationship between the United States and France in any way,” they demand “an explanation.”
“The tragedy of Quentin Deranque’s death has deeply affected the nation and bereaved a French family. What we have said is that we reject any political exploitation of this tragedy,” Barrot told French public broadcaster FranceInfo.
A source close to the French foreign minister confirmed to CNN that the US ambassador to France spoke to Barrot on Tuesday following his summons no-show. The minister reiterated the reasons for the summons, telling Kushner that “France cannot accept any form of interference or manipulation of its national public debate by the authorities of a third country,” according to the source.
Credit: cnn.com
