PARIS – Audrey Azoulay’s election Friday night as UNESCO’s next director-general marks an unexpected victory for French diplomacy.
Her name first came up as candidate for the spot at the twilight of François Hollande’s presidency when she served as culture minister.
But the end of Hollande’s political career risked ending her political ambitions, as well, as new the new president, Emmanuel Macron, found himself in an uncomfortable position with a candidate he did not choose, to a post he did not seek.
In fact, countries hosting UN agency headquarters rarely seek to also conquer the agencies’ leadership.
Still, Macron took it upon himself personally to advance Azoulay’s candidacy – a gamble that paid off.
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