Pillar of the President of the Republic’s team since May 2019, Emmanuel Bonne announced on Friday his desire to leave the Élysée. Several potential successors are already presenting themselves to Emmanuel Macron for this key position, at the heart of sovereign power.
Installed in a building near the Élysée, the diplomatic unit brings together around ten experts, most of them career diplomats, who specialize in major international issues. However, Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic record is increasingly criticized by diplomats and the media at the end of his reign. In the dock is the head of the cell, Emmanuel Bonne, appointed diplomatic advisor in 2019 following the departure of Philippe Étienne, who left to take the post of ambassador to Washington.
Mondafrique will not mourn his departure, he who owes his career to Jean Yves Le Drian, one of the constant targets of our target because of his calamitous African policy, and who hardly liked us. As much as this diplomat benefited from the total trust of the French President during the first five-year term, he had lost many of his prerogatives in recent months in the face of his boss who was increasingly determined to do without his advice.
Public humiliation
During Emmanuel Macron’s last trip to China, this loss of influence was made public during the return trip and while the French head of state was conversing, obviously “off the record”, with three journalists. One of them had confided to Mondafrique the content of this unprecedented interview.
While the head of state had confided his desire to distance himself from any following the Americans on the dispute between China and Taiwanone of the writers present must have expressed his astonishment. “All the same, while the Chinese fleet is encircling Taiwan, your declarations may appear as a lack of solidarity…” And Emmanuel Macron smiled, turning to his diplomatic advisor, Emmanuel Bonne, who was naturally on the trip: “So, Emmanuel , apparently you are not the only one to distance yourself from my diplomatic choices on Taiwan and the United States.”
It is not common for a President to distance himself from his main diplomatic advisor publicly in the presence of a few journalists. And what’s more, on a major subject that concerns peace and war in the world.
The correspondent of the “Politico” site, present during this interview alongside his colleagues from Les Échos and France Inter, cannot help but question Emmanuel Macron: “But who is the person you listen to the most on major foreign policy issues. “But it’s Brigitte, of course, my confidante,” replies the person concerned, smiling. And to continue: “No, my main advisor is myself.”
“The Thénardiers” in charge
The situation of the diplomatic cell has become so untenable over the years that the Presidency had to, during the summer of 2020, trigger an internal investigation to finally clarify the situation, and understand where all these tensions and tensions come from. this climate of terror which reigns behind the doors of 2 rue de l’Élysée: departures in fact multiplied and sick leave too, many members of the cell experiencing a real “burn out” due to of Emmanuel Bonne’s management. The head of the diplomatic cell, and his deputy, Alice Rufo, nicknamed “the Thénardiers” or “the Ceaucescus” internally for their management « brutal » et « infernal » according to the terms of this audit carried out by a private firm.
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