Pierre Vimont, a diplomat in no-chat
(BRUSSELS2) B2 has had the privilege of being able, over the past few years, to meet on many occasions with the current Secretary General of the EEAS (the European External Action Service), to follow him in his footsteps of a cat (like... in the Quai d'Orsay comic strip). When the man who suffered the plasters of the establishment of the European diplomatic service leaves the scene, it is time to pay him a (small) tribute.
The resurgence of a stronger Russia, the search for an appeasement with Iran, the upheavals in Africa or the Middle East, the future of Europe, those who lead it, the place of France, during of our formal or informal exchanges, we traveled the world in a few minutes with great strides. Each time with an advantage: everyone came out of this exchange smarter than they had entered. Pierre Vimont thus has a big advantage: to make you understand, gently, the world as he sees it, as he observes it, as he conceives it, and which thus unfolds before your eyes.
To questions, sometimes impertinent or irreverent, Pierre Vimont is often careful not to deny it outright. On the contrary, he seems to agree with you... with malice. " You have no reason, but I do not entirely share your analysis " or " It's a way of seeing. But I will add a point or two to complete your point of view”. Which means, in very polite terms: "you are, a little... wrong". His silences or his interrogations in the face of a question are also to be weighed up, they sometimes translate as much as the words, what he thinks. And he does not hesitate to contradict the general atmosphere.
He regularly likes to point out that the Kremlin had hoped to divide the Europeans, in particular on the sanctions, and that he had ... broken his teeth. Russian diplomacy, however experienced, had tried many things. But she couldn't win the round. A success of which Pierre Vimont is very proud, at a time when everyone makes fun of Europe's weakness. That weakness turned into strength those days. The senior diplomat also highlights the European successes, often overlooked, in Somalia, Mali and with Iran.
Europe gave her great enthusiasm, but also, often, despair. From the top of his office, on the 6th floor of the new building which still has no name, he must have often stormed in his heart of hearts, against a machine which walked at hoot and dia, which looked like anything but a device traditional diplomacy. But he was careful not to show it. Even if the work was never easy, he always defended his boss, Catherine Ashton, finding her qualities where everyone saw only fault. Faced with his interlocutors — Americans, Russians, Israelis, Syrians, etc. — he also tirelessly defended European positions, explaining their intricacies but also their strengths. Only his country of origin, France, disappointed him somewhat, no doubt due to its lack of fighting spirit and its weak European dynamic.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
