Is Catherine Colonna related to Yvan Colonna?

Monday May 16, Emmanuel Macron put an end to a suspense of several days by appointing Elisabeth Borne as Prime Minister, a few hours after the resignation of Jean Castex. An announcement that has not gone unnoticed since in thirty years, no woman had held this position. This Friday, May 20, the reshuffle was mentioned and it was Catherine Colonna who was appointed Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. She therefore takes the place of Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an international context marked by the war in Ukraine. If the new minister has Corsican origins and also the same surname, she however, is not related to Yvan Colonna, the independence activist who died in March 2022 following his attack in prison. Catherine Colonna is the daughter of a farmer of Corsican origin, but she herself was born in Tours, in Indre-et-Loire. Aged 66, this is a homecoming for her since she had been Minister Delegate for European Affairs from 2005 to 2007under the presidency of Jacques Chirac.

Catherine Colonna is not an unknown name. After having been part of the government under the presidency of Jacques Chirac, she has occupied, since 2019, the position of French Ambassador to the United Kingdom. She was in particular on the front line during Brexit, then also during the tensions and then during the tensions between the two countries over fishing licenses. This had earned him a summons from the British government when the tone rose. Catherine Colonna has a long journey behind her since she graduated of the Institute of Political Studies (1980) and ENA (1983). In the early 1990s, she was policy officer for European issues at the Analysis and Forecasting Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, she was Deputy Press Director of the Quai d’Orsay but also deputy spokesperson for the same ministry. More recently, she was Permanent delegate of France to Unesco (2008-2010), French Ambassador to Italy and San Marino (2014-2017) and Permanent Representative of France to the OECD (2017-2019).

Catherine Colonna: did she react to her appointment?

The redesign was eagerly awaited by the French and it was much commented on, in particular by Catherine Colonna. On her Twitter account, the new minister first indicated that it was her “last tweet as UK Ambassador” before thanking the people with whom she has worked over the years. In a second message, she spoke directly to Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne. “A huge thank you to the President of the Republic and to the Prime Minister for the trust and honor they have placed in me.“, she said. An appointment of which she is very proud.

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