ASFE Association, always by your side when abroad

France welcomes the partial reopening of the Rafah border crossing in both directions, allowing for the first medical evacuations. We also welcome the redeployment of both the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point (EUBAM Rafah) and Palestinian Authority personnel, who must be able to fully perform their duties at the crossing in accordance with the terms that were previously agreed upon.
The reopening of the crossing is an important first step in the implementation of (…)

France strongly condemns the increasing number of Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. Following a strike on a passenger train in Kharkiv that killed five people on 27 January, Russia struck a bus carrying employees of a mine in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Sunday 1 February, killing 16 people, and a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. No military aim can justify such atrocities, which constitute further deliberate breaches by Russia of its obligation to respect international (…)

On Thursday, January 29, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot participated in the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The meeting gave the Minister the chance to talk about the importance of European unity at a time when the EU's territorial integrity is under pressure. The Minister stressed that Europe's position is clear and remains firm while refusing any sort of escalation.
Regarding Iran, on the initiative of France and its partners, the Foreign Affairs Council (…)

France applauds the adoption, on January 29, of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement between the EU and Vietnam. Coming on the 35th anniversary of relations between the EU and Vietnam, this agreement offers new prospects for deepening and expanding cooperation in strategic areas and on trade, as well as global challenges.
As the first European country to have adopted a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam, France supports stronger ties with Vietnam at the European (…)

France welcomes the signing of an agreement by the Syrian transitional government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
France actively facilitated the talks between all the parties. The signing of this agreement should definitively end the clashes seen in recent weeks and restart a peaceful transition to a united, pluralistic Syria. France is doing everything it can to help bring this about.
It calls on the parties to fully implement this agreement, following the agreed-upon phases, (…)

France utterly condemns the Russian drone attack on a passenger train in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, which killed five civilians and injured two others.
As discussions between Russia and Ukraine are held in Abu Dhabi, this strike demonstrates that Russia is stubbornly continuing to bomb Ukraine, targeting strikes at civilians. Nearly four years since the start of its large-scale aggression against Ukraine, it is still up to Moscow to prove through deeds its willingness to enter into peace (…)

M. Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, had a meeting with his Irish counterpart, Helen McEntee, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence, in Paris on Wednesday 28 January.
Building on the regular dialogue between France and Ireland, the two ministers reaffirmed their desire to continue strengthening a close bilateral relationship based on trust and increasingly diversified cooperation projects. The ministers therefore signed the France-Ireland (…)

We the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom strongly condemn the demolitions by the Israeli authorities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) headquarters in East Jerusalem, on 20 January 2026.
This unprecedented act against a United Nations agency by a UN Member State marks the latest unacceptable move to undermine their ability to operate. We (…)

France was deeply shocked to learn of the tourist boat accident in which three of our nationals lost their lives this morning off the coast of Oman.
France extends its sincere condolences to the victims' families and close friends.
The services of the French Embassy in Oman and the Crisis and Support Centre in Paris are fully mobilized to provide all necessary assistance to the families, in close cooperation with the Omani (…)

On this international day dedicated to the memory of Holocaust victims, the remembrance of genocides and the prevention of crimes against humanity, France remembers the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi regime and its collaborators, honours the memory of Holocaust victims and survivors, and reaffirms its total commitment to the preservation and transmission of memory.
On 27 January 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp was liberated and the world discovered the genocidal machine deployed by (…)