Everything about Bernard Kouchner totally explained
Bernard Kouchner (born
November 1 1939 in
Avignon) is a
French politician,
diplomat, and
doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières which is also known as
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) 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. He worked as a physician for the
Red Cross in
Biafra in
1968 (during the
Nigerian Civil War). He founded Medecins Sans Frontieres 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. 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 wasn't 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
Mitterand'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 in Kosovo. . 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 Prishtina 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're 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
site
.
In
2006, Kouchner was also a candidate to become
Director-General of the
World Health Organisation. He lost before the final election round, and Chinese candidate
Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun was later elected.
In the Fillon government
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
September 16,
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 wouldn't 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 don't want it to be said that I'm 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."
Personal life
Kouchner has four children by his first wife,
Évelyne Pisier, a professor of law, and one child, Alexandre, by his present wife
Christine Ockrent, a television journalist.
Positions held
Further Information
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