Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Eli | Email Lauren For nearly four years, PHILIPPE ÉTIENNE served as a major presence within official Washington. But two weeks ago, the French ambassador returned to Paris. We spoke to him about his tenure, interactions with two very different administrations and changes in the U.S.-France relationship. He was — unsurprisingly — diplomatic. The conversation has been edited for clarity. You spent most of your career in Europe before coming to Washington. How has the U.S.-France alliance changed since the war began? When the war broke out, France had the presidency of the Council of the EU. We had very quick decisions, historical decisions. We decided for the first time to buy weapons for a country outside the EU. There was the EU decision a couple of weeks after the invasion to grant all refugees from Ukraine temporary protection. There was also the NATO decision to deploy more military forces to [NATO’s eastern flank]. So definitely the Russian invasion has led to a very close coordination between the U.S. and Europe. This coordination was not only a matter of days or weeks; it is still there. Has this war led to more of the burden sharing that President DONALD TRUMP demanded from European allies? It makes the alliance stronger if the European side is stronger. And I don’t say that to minimize the American factor. The U.S. is really doing a lot. But the Europeans also are doing quite a lot. In France, for the second time under President [EMANUEL] MACRON, we have decided [on] a second programming of our defense budget. But it is not only a question of money. It is also a question of capacity and willingness to engage. This is the reinforcement of the European pillar of the transatlantic alliance. This war in Europe reminds us of the importance of our alliance with the U.S. And the Europeans themselves have to achieve much more. This idea of ‘European sovereignty’ doesn’t mean to weaken the Alliance. It is exactly the contrary. President JOE BIDEN likes to tell the story of how, when he told G-7 leaders ‘America is back,’ their response was ‘for how long?’ Do you think the allies are still asking that? I do not see the question President Biden said he was asked as a criticism of the United States. It’s just a matter of facts, a matter of democracy. You have elections for president every four years, elections for Congress every two years. How did your relationship with our government change after January 2021? We have to have as close as possible relations with the administration. But we also have to work with the two parties. When there are such radical changes of policy, you have to adapt. You have to respect the change, to see the good sides. How often were you around Biden himself? Mostly when there were interactions between the two presidents, and there were quite a number of them. How would you describe the Biden-Macron relationship? They had a very quick first conversation after [Biden was declared the winner]. They have called each other or met a lot since. They came from different perspectives but they established very good relations. And the war in Ukraine has made their coordination much stronger. How did Covid change your time here? The first period in spring 2020 was more tense, more difficult. You remember the big cruise ships? We had a hard time but there was a big need for coordination to take our French citizens who were in the U.S. back to France. And then we had the rest of the period with the travel ban. We have several French-American schools all over the U.S. and [in the summer of 2020] our French teachers could not come to the U.S. We found solutions. It was a challenging time but also a time for building extraordinary relationships. Around Washington, you’re renowned as a gracious host. And your job is to build relationships. The pandemic must have made that more difficult. We had to cancel a few events initially. But very rapidly we started to host smaller groups with more social distancing. The French residence was practically never closed. We started again in May 2020 to have small groups. And then on Bastille Day, we had a virtual party. We had to be creative! We launched some virtual meetings during which we were sending French cheese and a bottle of good French wine by FedEx to the people we had invited. So is your social calendar in Paris now as packed as it was here? Life is different. But I'm happy to move on to this new stage of my life. MESSAGE US — Are you FAMED FRENCH PASTRY CHEF CEDRIC GROLET? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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