Stephane Séjourné: Macron’s Surprise Choice for French Foreign Minister

Stéphane Séjourné was not the Élysée’s first choice for the Quai d’Orsay: Emmanuel Macron first offered the position to Christine Lagarde. The latter having expressed the wish to remain at the head of the European Central Bank, it was ultimately Stéphane Séjourné who was chosen to replace Catherine Colonna at the head of French diplomacy.

Even if he becomes, at 38, the youngest Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Fifth Republic, Stéphane Séjourné is four years older than the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, whose companion he was once – the two men were in a civil partnership six years ago. Both have in common that they were Macronists from the start.

Gabriel Attal, or the story of a meteoric rise

Stéphane Séjourné spent his childhood and adolescence abroad in the footsteps of his father, a telecoms engineer, in Mexico, Madrid and then Argentina. It was there, during the 2001 crisis, that he decided to enter politics, which he did upon his return to France.

Initially a member of the Socialist Party (Strauss-Kahn tendency), Stéphane Séjourné, a lawyer by training, was an advisor to Emmanuel Macron when he was Minister of the Economy, before participating in the launch of the En Marche movement (which became La République en Marche , then the Renaissance party) with a view to the 2017 presidential elections. At the Élysée, the Versailles resident continued to whisper in the ear of the head of state until 2019, when he accepted the mission of leading the list of LREM for Europeans.

A European MP, he is the eyes and ears (and somewhat the voice) of President Macron in the hemicycle and even more so when he becomes head of the Renew group. In Brussels and Strasbourg, those who are more comfortable in the shadows than in the light exercise their function more as a strategist than as a tribune leader of the pack. In Paris, he will be, more than ever, the president’s man, who maintains control over Foreign Affairs. At the Quai d’Orsay, “the advent of Europe” will remain[sa] priority,” he assures.

2024-01-12 19:51:19
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