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Bernard Kouchner
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Bernard Kouchner (born 1 November 1939 in Avignon) is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) -also known as Doctors Without Borders- and Doctors of the World. He is currently the French minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the right-wing Fillon government, although he was considered in the past to be a center-left politician.
to a Jewish father and a Protestant mother, he began his political career as a member of the French Communist Party (PCF), from which he was expelled in 1966 for attempting to overthrow the leadership.
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Bernard Kouchner (born 1 November 1939 in Avignon) is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) -also known as Doctors Without Borders- and Doctors of the World. He is currently the French minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the right-wing Fillon government, although he was considered in the past to be a center-left politician.
Humanitarian actions
Born to a Jewish father and a Protestant mother, he began his political career as a member of the French Communist Party (PCF), from which he was expelled in 1966 for attempting to overthrow the leadership. On a visit to Cuba in 1964, Kouchner spent the night fishing and drinking with Fidel Castro. In the protests of May 1968, he ran the medical faculty strike committee at the Sorbonne. Kouchner has three children (Julie, Camille and Antoine) by his first wife, Évelyne Pisier, a professor of law, and one child, Alexandre, by his present wife Christine Ockrent, a television journalist. He worked as a physician for the Red Cross in Biafra in 1968 (during the Nigerian Civil War). He founded Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in 1971, and then, due to a conflict of opinion with MSF chairman Claude Malhuret, the Doctors of the World ('Médecins du Monde') in 1980. What made him co-found Doctors Without Borders was his experience as a physician for the Red Cross during the Nigerian Civil War that took place in Biafra, 1968. Kouchner worked as a humanitarian volunteer during the Siege of Naba’a refugee camp in Lebanon in East Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War taking risks that "other foreign aid workers weren’t, even worked closely with the Shia cleric Imam Musa al-Sadr."
Minister in left-wing governments
From 1988, he began his government career in Socialist governments, though he was not always a member of the French Socialist Party. He became 'Secrétaire d'état', a lower position in the Cabinet, for Humanitarian Action in 1988, then Minister of Health in 1992, under Mitterrand's presidency. Later, he continued his political career in the European Parliament. Between 1993 and 1997, France was governed by right governments.
When Lionel Jospin became Prime Minister in 1997, he became Minister of Health for the second time.
UN Representative in Kosovo
On July 15, 1999, pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1244, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan nominated Kouchner as the first UN Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). During 18 months, he led UN efforts to create a new civil administration and political system replacing the Serbian ones, and to rebuild the economy shattered by three years of war. Thus, municipal councils were elected at local level by the end of 2000. He was replaced on 21 January 2001 by Danish Social Democrat Hans Hækkerup. He became at this time Minister of Health for the third time, until the 2002 Elections. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Pristina for his services to Kosovo.
On the US-led invasion of Iraq
Kouchner is a long-time advocate of humanitarian intervention. In early 2003, he pronounced himself in favour of removing Saddam Hussein as President of Iraq, arguing that interference against dictatorship should be a global priority, and continued to say that now, the focus should be on the actual people themselves, and that they are the only ones who could answer yes or no to war.
In a February 4, 2003 editorial with Antoine Veil in Le Monde, entitled "Neither War Nor Saddam", Kouchner said that he was opposed to the impending War in Iraq, and, as the title suggests, to the remaining in power of Saddam Hussein, the removal of whom should be accomplished via a concerted United Nations, preferably diplomatic, solution.
Candidate for UN positions
In 2005, Kouchner was a candidate for the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but lost the appointment in favor of former Portuguese Prime Minister, António Guterres, who was nominated by then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. One of Kouchner's statements on behalf of his candidature can be found on the International Council of Voluntary Agencies .
In 2006, Kouchner was also a candidate to become Director-General of the World Health Organisation. He lost before the final election round, and (Hong Kong) Chinese candidate Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun was later elected.
Controversies
After the election of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, Kouchner was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in François Fillon's government, even though Kouchner supported Sarkozy's Socialist rival Ségolène Royal during the campaign. He has since been expelled from the Socialist Party for his acceptance of the post.
Comments on Iran nuclear situation
In September 2007, Kouchner's public comments on the Iranian nuclear situation attracted much attention and controversy. In an interview on 16 September 2007, he said, "We will negotiate until the end. And at the same time we must prepare ourselves [...] for the worst.... The worst, it's war...." . He stated that France was committed to a diplomatic resolution and that no military action was planned, but that an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose "a real danger for the whole world".
Iranian officials criticized the comments as "inflammatory". The chief UN nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency
indirectly responded to Kouchner by characterizing talk of attacking Iran as "hype", saying the use of force should only be considered as a last resort and only if authorized by the UN Security Council.
"I would not talk about any use of force", he said.
On September 18, 2007, Kouchner attempted to respond to criticisms. In comments to newspaper Le Monde, he stated, "I do not want it to be said that I am a warmonger! [...] My message was a message of peace, of seriousness and of determination. [...] The worst situation would be war. To avoid that, the French attitude is to negotiate, negotiate, negotiate, without fear of being rebuffed, and to work with our European friends on credible sanctions."
Comments on the Irish ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon
In the run up to the referendum in the Republic of Ireland on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, Kouchner warned that any "No" vote towards the treaty would be detrimental to Ireland and the Irish economy. He also commented that "It would be very, very awkward if we were not able to count on the Irish, who have often counted on Europe.". His comments were dismissed as "unhelpful" by leading Irish politicians, and some media commentators have suggested that his remarks may have galvanised the "No" campaign in the run up to the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty on 13 June 2008 .
Comments on the European Union and a unity government for Zimbabwe
On 1 July 2008, France assumed presidency of the Council of the European Union. In his capacity as the French foreign minister, he commented after the African Union summit, that The European Union would only recognise a Zimbabwe unity government headed by Morgan Tsvangirai not Robert Mugabe.
Controversial book
In January 2009, a book published by Pierre Péan Le Monde selon K reveals Kouchner's links with African dictators and his involvment in different affairs, provoking a huge scandal in France.
Positions held
External links
- , the New York Times Magazine, 3 February 2008
- , Asian Tribune, 25 December 2006
- , by Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, May 18, 2007
- Karina Paulina Marczuk, A Visionary and a Practitioner: the Bernard Kouchner vs. David Kilcullen, "Defence and Strategy", vol. 2/2007
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