It’s a phrase he says “every time he travels on national territory,” almost like a mantra: “Foreign affairs are everybody’s business.” The Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot reiterated this on Friday, April 17 in Mauguio, Montpellier, and Montferrier, in front of students, elected officials, researchers, and united citizens. Behind the statement lies the belief that the minister spent the whole day illustrating concretely: the border between what is negotiated in chancelleries and what is experienced in the territories is more porous than one might think.
Diplomacy as a Daily Matter
The starting point is almost mundane, but the minister insists that it should not be taken lightly. “What happens beyond our borders has very concrete consequences on our daily lives,” he says. The example he chooses is deliberately practical: the price of fuel, directly affected by the war in Ukraine, weighing on both households and businesses. One does not need to be a diplomat to understand that geopolitical tensions have a tangible cost, felt at the pump or on energy bills.
But the minister goes further. If the global affects the local, the local, according to him, “also feeds the global.” This is where his day in Montpellier takes on meaning. It was not a courtesy visit but a step-by-step demonstration of how a territory can be “a full-fledged actor in foreign policy,” without always realizing it.
The visit began at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hérault, in Mauguio, with representatives from the business world and local authorities. Jean-Noël Barrot unequivocally referred to them as “the primary partners of the international action we carry out from the Quai d’Orsay.” A way to bring local and national closer together, on a scale that perceives foreign policy as reserved for decision-makers in the capital.
The minister seized the subject, sharing a vision in which “local authorities are not just conduits” but producers of influence. “The close ties forged over the years and decades between peoples are the foundation of good relations between their authorities and governments, and therefore of peace and stability,” he explains. The wording is diplomatic in form. It encompasses the idea that peace is also built in the meeting rooms of twinning committees, in university exchanges, and in local economic partnerships.
Twinning, an old tool of renewed diplomacy
Montpellier has thirteen international twinnings. For some, they seem like vestiges of another era. For Jean-Noël Barrot, however, they are very much current. When asked about pro-Palestinian demonstrations calling for the end of twinning with the Israeli city of Tiberias, he chose to respond with history rather than law: “The mayor of Montpellier recalled that the twinning with Heidelberg was initiated by 20-year-olds who, in 1950, said ‘enough of war’ and wanted to establish new ties with the German people. We must continue the dialogue.”
This argument is the keystone of his entire day’s thinking: the ties between peoples precede and survive crises between states. “Local authorities establish human connections through twinning committees, partnership projects with decentralized cooperation, thereby directly contributing to development and thus to peace,” he summarizes. On the question of whether local authorities should go further, exert pressure on belligerents, the minister is clear: “Each in their role.”
At the ICM, health as a “vector of global influence”
The afternoon took the minister to the Institute of Cancer in Montpellier, alongside Mayor Michael Delafosse. The choice of this location was not random: the healthcare sector is explicitly cited by Jean-Noël Barrot as contributing to “the influence of France” and “the recovery of its trade balance,” alongside aeronautics and viticulture.
Upon arrival, Professor Ychou traced the medical history of Montpellier (“one of the oldest medical faculties in Europe”) before projecting the minister into its present and future: recent therapeutic successes, international partnerships forged, and ongoing projects. Among them, the AMBER program, “which aims to tackle cancers currently deemed inoperable.” A colossal project with international scientific ramifications, “but funding still needs to be completed.” Faced with researchers and officials highlighting this shortfall, the minister took out his phone and sent a live SMS. “We will make progress on all of this.”
