US Leaves UN Meeting After France's Comment on Human Rights

The US team walked out of a UN Security Council meeting on Monday while France was discussing the situation in Ukraine.

They protested after France compared US voting on human rights to that of authoritarian countries. This came after the US opposed the reappointment of UN human rights chief Volker Türk for another four years.

This incident shows rising tensions between the US and Europe, especially between President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. Tensions started when Trump threatened to take Greenland. European nations also refused to back the US in the Iran war. In March, Macron suggested that Europe needs a stronger military, with France taking the lead in a nuclear deterrent plan against Russian threats.

Despite the US opposition, Türk received strong support for his reappointment from many countries, including France. UN member states rejected the US proposal to postpone the vote until next week. They also turned down a Russian idea to extend Türk’s term only until the end of the year.

Türk was reappointed with 144 votes from the General Assembly. Only 10 nations opposed it, while 13 countries abstained. The US was one of those that abstained.

After the meeting, the French Mission posted on X, saying, “The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it.”

In response, Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, said France is supporting “some of the worst human rights abusers.” He criticized them for voting “for someone who has been lecturing free, sovereign democracies like the United States, the UK, and Israel, while cosying up to the world’s worst oppressors.”

During the assembly meeting, US diplomat Dan Negrea reacted to France's comments. He stated that the US is still the beacon of liberty for the world. He also mentioned that the US “will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicised drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric.”