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Biography
Jean-Yves Le Drian ([ʒã.iv lə.dʁi.jã]; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician serving as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs since 2017. He previously was Minister of Defence from 2012 to 2017 under President François Hollande. He was nominated by Emmanuel Macron to serve as Foreign Minister in the First Philippe government on 17 May 2017. A former member of the Socialist Party, he has been an Independent since 2018.
Family and education
Jean-Yves Le Drian was born in Lorient to working-class parents, Jean and Louisette, who were active members of the Young Christian Workers (Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne, JOC). He completed his studies at the University of Rennes 2, where he was an activist for the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF). First of all interested by Breton Democratic Union (UDB) in the 1970s, he joined the Socialist Party (PS) in May 1974.
Political career
Early functions
In 1977, he assumed the position of Deputy Mayor of Lorient; one year later, at the age of 30, he became a member of the National Assembly for Morbihan. He served until 1993 and then again from 1997 until 2007. He became Mayor of Lorient in 1981 and retained the office until 1988; he also served as Secretary of State for the Sea under President François Mitterrand from 1991 to 1992.
In the 2004 regional elections, leading the Bretagne à gauche, Bretagne pour tous (PS-PCF-PRG-Les Verts-UDB) list, he won 58.66% of the vote in the runoff and a total of 58 seats in the Regional Council of Brittany. He thus became President of the Regional Council of Brittany. In October 2010 he became President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR).
Minister of Defence
He was nominated to serve as Minister of Defence under President François Hollande on 16 May 2012. He managed the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan and the deployment of French troops in the Northern Mali conflict and Operation Barkhane. He is also credited with leading a resurgence in French weapons' exports that have resulted in billions of euros in deals, including the first exports of the Dassault Rafale fighter jet.
On 23 March 2017, Le Drian endorsed Emmanuel Macron's candidacy for President of the Republic. After Macron won the presidential election, he appointed Le Drian as Foreign Minister in the First Philippe government.
Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs
Le Drian remained in office when the Second Philippe government was inaugurated; on 8 March 2018, he officially resigned from the Socialist Party.
In August 2019, Le Drian called on Hong Kong authorities to renew talks with Hong Kong protesters to find a peaceful solution to the then ongoing crisis. On 9 October 2019, Le Drian condemned the unilateral Turkish operation in Northeastern Syria and declared that Turkey's military incursion "is jeopardising the anti-Islamic State coalition’s security and humanitarian efforts and is a risk for the security of Europeans".
Awards and honours
