- Jul 1, 2018
- 2,149
PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
PRIVATE
Office of the President of the French Republic
Élysée Palace
55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré,
75008 Paris
France
August 2001
Élysée Palace
55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré,
75008 Paris
France
August 2001
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
Inkognitogata 18
0256 Oslo,
Norway
Dear Prime Minister Stoltenberg,
I am saddened to receive a report by adviser and diplomat François Hollande who is representing the French Republic in the European Summit in your country. It is to my understanding that members were supportive of the headquarters to be in Strasbourg but due to a reservation made by the British delegation it is now being put to a revote, to say I am extremely annoyed by the precedent is an understatement. After consulting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, I have decided that it is not in the best interests of my country for us to join the organisation at this time due to the clear failings shown in the start-up meeting before the union has even started up with the Irish diplomat agreeing that a second vote gives an air of indecision.
As a result of these measures, I have decided that it is in our best interests to cancel the arms agreement as stated in our governments correspondence with Minister Lecointre and Minister Strøm-Erichsen. I will also be recalling Ambassador Pierre-Mathieu Duhamel back to Paris and downgrading our embassy operations in Norway as a temporary measure, however your operations at your embassy in Paris will continue as normal from our perspective. I am extremely saddened that it has come to this point but we just don't see the organisation working at this point due to the clear failings in the early stages.
If you would like to discuss this further then I will be happy to receive your Ambassador at the Élysée Palace to discuss any further details.
Marine Le Pen
President of the French Republic