French DGSE spoke of French interests in Middle East at SUD

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Aug 2022 21:31
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Former director general of the French Foreign Security (DGSE), Bernard Bajolet, spoke at the Summer University of Defense about France's hopes of regaining lost influence in Lebanon after the August 4th explosion that blew up the Beirut port.

Former director general of the French Foreign Security (DGSE) Bernard Bajolet (AFP)

Former director general of the French Foreign Security (DGSE), Bernard Bajolet, was present at the Summer University of Defense, on July 26 in Saint-Malo, and answered, during a specialized conference, some questions. One of these questions concerned France's influence in the Middle East.

In response, he said that "we agree that France's status in the Middle East has deteriorated significantly compared to the past, but our government is trying to compensate.

After the August 4th Beirut port explosion, France was willing to help Lebanon country face multiple crises through a project called "mission government," in an attempt to improve its position in the country, given its position on the shores of the Mediterranean which offers significant strategic advantages, he stated. In the Middle East, Bajolet said, "Lebanon is considered the only country in which France could regain its former influence and ensure its strategic interests."

In this regard, said the DGSE, French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his unwavering support to solve Lebanon's problems.

Regarding France's position on the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict", [Israeli occupation of Palestine] Bajolet said that "his country has sought peace since the beginning, and that is why France supported the creation of two independent governments. In 2013, when I was appointed director general of Foreign Security, I began to establish intimate relations with the political currents in Israel, and I got to know people like Mr. [Yair] Lapid. By the way, Lapid's relationship with the French government dates back to 1987, when Lapid met the late French ambassador to Washington, Emmanuel Jacquin de Margerie, through a Jewish businessman in Los Angeles," adding that "Our friendship with Lapid continues to this day so that in recent years the relationship has reached such a point that in 2018, just days before the Israeli elections, Lapid is visiting France to receive advice from Paris."

The DGSE stated that France considers PM Yair Lapid its intellectual representative in "Israel" as well as on the international political scene.

It is obvious, said Bajolet, that "the French government, in turn, is committed to "Israel's" security and to promoting it through its influence in Lebanon alongside other Arab countries."

Bajolet also argued that the presence of what he described as "a moderate personality" like Lapid at the head of "Israel," who he claimed is far from "religious extremism and orthodox prejudices," is the result of many years of planning and efforts by the Hexagon to increase peace on the international scene.

After spending time discussing national French interests across the Middle East and dreams of an era long lost, Bajolet ended the conference with a populist slogans speech calling for an end to all conflict through "tolerance and respect" without explaining how that is possible as France, amongst other, simultaneously seeks to regain regional influences that are built on romanticized orientalist colonization.