US pulls out of UN meeting following criticism of French human rights – National
American diplomats walked out as their French counterparts spoke at the United Nations on Monday after America’s closest European ally criticized Trump’s human rights record.
This dramatic action during the UN Security Council meeting in Ukraine followed the US’s opposition to giving UN human rights chief Volker Türk another four-year term. The re-election on Friday received wide support, including in France.
The US withdrawal reflects not only the strained relationship between President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also broader tensions between the US and Europe. These include questions about Trump’s commitment to NATO, possible changes to US military deployments in Europe, and Trump’s desire to control Greenland, which belongs to NATO member Denmark.
Trump complained that the Europeans, who did not negotiate with them, did not help the US during the Iran war. In the midst of these conflicts, Macron has taken the lead in trying to build a European military and ensure a nuclear umbrella as one of the continent’s two nuclear powers, along with Britain.
After a brief visit on Monday, US deputy ambassador Dan Negrea accused France of pretending to be “an outrage” and pretending to educate the world on all topics, including human rights.
The United States has represented France in all conflicts where its “liberties are at stake” and tolerated its appointment “out of mutual understanding and respect,” he said, but not.
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What led to this scandal was a text on social media on Friday from the UN Mission of France in Geneva criticizing the opposition to the US in taking the second term of the UN human rights chief. The General Assembly voted 144-10 with 13 abstentions in favor of Türk, with the US among the “no” votes.
“The US used to be a beacon of human rights. It is no longer the case. Today, it stands next to North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali and Russia, alone. And the world is no longer listening,” said the French Mission.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, in response to X, accused France of defrauding “some of the worst abusers of human rights” and voting for “a person who taught democracy, liberalism, governing like the United States, the UK, and Israel, while colluding with the worst oppressors in the world.”
Türk’s work as a UN rights official is, by its very nature, tricky: It requires speaking out against the violation of the rights of the governments of the countries that form the membership of the world body.
For example, Türk strongly criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Israel’s war in Gaza and called for a “major rethinking” of US immigration policy ahead of the World Cup, citing issues about “racial profiling, surveillance and immigration enforcement.”
In Monday’s meeting, Negrea participated in France.
“Today, I remind them that it is the United States that is the beacon of freedom in the world,” he said. “Therefore, we will not give them the opportunity to listen to their politics until they give up their insulting and disrespectful speeches and behave in a way that is consistent with their position in this council.”
France’s ambassador to the UN, Jerome Bonnafont, did not mention the exit when asked to take a position at the end of the council meeting to answer.
Instead, he noted that France – which helped America gain independence – participated in the July 4 celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
“The United Nations was established to work for international peace and security, human rights and development,” he said. “All that creates the spirit in which France works within the United Nations … to preserve this institution, its independence, its ability to act according to the constitution and to carry out the work of working for human rights and peace.”
© 2026 The Canadian Press
