Florence Parly

French politician

Florence Parly
Minister of the Armed Forces
In office
21 June 2017 – 20 May 2022
PresidentEmmanuel Macron
Prime MinisterÉdouard Philippe
Jean Castex
Preceded bySylvie Goulard
Succeeded bySébastien Lecornu
Secretary of State for the Budget
In office
3 January 2000 – 6 May 2002
PresidentJacques Chirac
Prime MinisterLionel Jospin
Preceded byChristian Sautter
Succeeded byAlain Lambert
Personal details
Born (1963-05-08) 8 May 1963 (age 60)
Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Political partyRenaissance (2022–present)
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Party (1995–2006)
Territories of Progress (2020-2022)
Alma materSciences Po, ÉNA

Florence Parly (French pronunciation: [flɔʁɑ̃s paʁli]; born 8 May 1963) is a French politician who served as Minister of the Armed Forces under President Emmanuel Macron from 2017 to 2022.[1] A former member of the Socialist Party (PS), she previously served as Secretary of State for the Budget from 2000 to 2002 under President Jacques Chirac.

Career

An alumna of Sciences Po and the École nationale d'administration, Parly was appointed Secretary of State for the Budget on 3 January 2000 in the government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. In office until 6 May 2002, she seconded Christian Sautter, then Laurent Fabius at the Ministry of Finance.[2][3]

After briefly serving as a member of the Burgundy Regional Council from 2004 to 2006, Parly worked at Air France as deputy general director from 2006 until 2014, where she was in charge of passenger activity at Orly Airport and stopovers in France.[4]

In 2014, Parly moved on to become director-general of SNCF Voyageurs until 2017.[5][6]

Minister of the Armies

Florence Parly and Indian Navy Vice Admiral Girish Luthra in 2017

Parly was named Minister of the Armies on 21 June 2017 after Sylvie Goulard was forced to resign due to an ongoing investigation of her party.[7] Following the nomination, she resigned from all her board positions; her husband Martin Vial withdrew from his position on the board of Thales Group.[8]

Internal investigations

Shortly after taking office, Parly ordered an investigation into allegations brought forward by the satirical weekly Le Canard enchaîné that the acting head of the French Air Force borrowed a Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet on weekends to fly from his base in Bordeaux to his home in Provence.[9]

In 2020, Parly placed a French lieutenant colonel, based in Italy and stationed with NATO, under investigation over a suspected breach of security after having passed sensitive documents to the Russian secret services.[10]

International crises

Parly with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in 2021

Regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal, Parly told BFM TV in 2019 that "nothing would be worse than Iran leaving this deal. We absolutely want to keep this agreement alive".[11] Following the US-led Baghdad airstrike in January 2020 that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani, Parly rejected pressure to withdraw French troops from Iraq, even stating on her Twitter account that France had already reinforced security for its 160 soldiers stationed in Iraq.[12] She further reiterated that it was the French government's priority to fight against ISIS militants, who were re-merging in the area.[12] Parly also warned Iran not to escalate tensions.[12]

Under Parly's leadership, France joined military exercises with Italy, Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean amid a worsening dispute between Turkey and Greece over energy resources in the region in 2020.[13] During that conflict, Parly underlined that France would stand by Greece and Cyprus.[14] On her initiative, NATO investigated French accusations that the Turkish Naval Forces failed to respond to an allied call to inspect a vessel in the Mediterranean, an incident suspected to involve Turkish arms smuggling to Libya.[15]

By mid-2021, Parly oversaw the phase-out of Operation Barkhane with some 5,100 soldiers across the Sahel region, and its transition into the Takuba Task Force.[16] As part of Operation Barkhane, she also authorized the killing of al Qaeda leader Baye ag Bakabo in June 2021; Bakabo had been determined the chief suspect for having abducted and shot Radio France Internationale journalists Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont in November 2013.[17]

The announcement of the AUKUS security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia in September 2021 sparked a period of diplomatic tensions in French-American and French-Australian relations.[18] The French government received official notification from Australia that the Attack-class submarine project, involving a A$90 billion Australian contract to buy 12 French submarines, was to be cancelled only a few hours before it was publicly announced.[19] In a joint statement, Parly and French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed disappointment at Australia's decision to abandon their joint submarine program with France.[20][21]

Parly's tenure as Armed Forces Minister was marked by the 2021 Tribune des généraux published in Valeurs actuelles, which spanned talk of a coup d'état after tens of retired army officers openly criticised Macron's leadership in the fight against Islamism and warned of a possible civil war.[22][23]

Military procurement

In 2022, Parly led talks with Ministry of Defense Prabowo Subianto over Indonesia´s decision to order 42 Dassault Rafale fighter jets in a $8.1 billion deal, making Jakarta the biggest French arms client in the Indo-Pacific region.[24]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

References

  1. ^ Nicolas Barotte (20 May 2022), Les confidences de Florence Parly avant son départ du ministère des Armées Le Figaro.
  2. ^ Kim Willsher (21 June 2017), Macron appoints new faces to senior roles after four ministers resign The Guardian.
  3. ^ "France's Macron Brings Corporate Background to Cabinet Shake-up France's Macron Brings Corporate Background to Cabinet Shake-up" Voice of America, 21 June 2017.
  4. ^ Florence Parly quitte Air France pour d'autres activités Le Point, August 28, 2014.
  5. ^ Valérie Collet (November 19, 2014), Florence Parly, la discrète Le Figaro.
  6. ^ Romain Herreros (17 February 2013). "Qui est Florence Parly, la nouvelle ministre des Armées?" [Who is Florence Parly, the new Minister of the Armies?]. Huffingtonpost.fr. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Macron adds new faces to Cabinet after losing 4 ministers". National Post. Associated Press. 21 June 2017 [19 June 2017].
  8. ^ Matthieu Protard and Mathieu Rosemain (26 June 2017), "Head of French state holding agency asks to be replaced at Thales board" Reuters.
  9. ^ Rory Mulholland (28 June 2017), "French air force commander under investigation for allegedly using fighter jet to fly to Provence home" Daily Telegraph.
  10. ^ Maya Nikolaeva and Gwenaelle Barzic (30 August 2020), French military officer investigated over suspected security breach Reuters.
  11. ^ David Rising (8 May 2019), "Europeans struggle to preserve Iran nuclear accord" Associated Press.
  12. ^ a b c "Governement [sic] Source: France not Planning to Cut Troop Numbers in Iraq for Now" Reuters, 7 January 2020.
  13. ^ Tangi Salaun (26 August 2020), France joins military exercises in east Mediterranean Reuters.
  14. ^ George Georgiopoulos (23 February 2020), France stands by Greece over tensions in Aegean Sea: French defense minister Reuters.
  15. ^ Robin Emmott and John Irish (18 June 2020), NATO to investigate Mediterranean incident between French, Turkish warships Reuters.
  16. ^ Tangi Salaün and John Irish (10 June 2021), France ends West African Barkhane military operation Reuters.
  17. ^ Tangi Salaün and John Irish (11 June 2021), Middle East: France kills senior Islamist leader in Sahel, vows to fight on Reuters.
  18. ^ "Explainer: Why is a submarine deal sparking a diplomatic crisis?". www.aljazeera.com.
  19. ^ Probyn, Andrew (17 September 2021). "French Ambassador says Australia's decision to scrap submarine deal was a breach of trust". ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Communiqué conjoint de Jean-Yves Le Drian et de Florence Parly". France Diplomatie (in French). Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Aukus: UK, US and Australia launch pact to counter China". BBC News. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Tribune de militaires : "Personne ne croit sérieusement en un coup d'État", juge Thierry Mariani", Europe 1 (in French), 9 May 2021.
  23. ^ "Tribune des généraux: «À la fausse indignation, préférons la mesure et la raison»", Le Figaro (in French), 2 May 2021.
  24. ^ Tassilo Hummel and Stanley Widianto (10 February 2022), France seals $8.1 billion deal with Indonesia to sell 42 Rafale jets Reuters.
  25. ^ Supervisory Board Caisse des dépôts et consignations.
  26. ^ Ipsos announces the consolidation of its Board of Directors Ipsos, press release of 4 April 2023.
  27. ^ Florence Parly appointed to newcleo’s Board of Directors Newcleo, press release of 29 March 2023.
  28. ^ Jean-Claude Bourbon (15 May 2023), Nucléaire : Newcleo veut construire des petits réacteurs en France La Croix.
  29. ^ a b c Matthieu Protard and Mathieu Rosemain (26 June 2017), "Head of French state holding agency asks to be replaced at Thales board" Reuters.
  30. ^ Florence Parly nommée présidente du conseil d’administration du Cnam National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM), press release of 11 May 2023.

External links

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Preceded by State Secretary for the Budget
2000–2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of the Armies
2017–2022 		Succeeded by
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