Bienvenue to Laurent Bili, the newest French Ambassador to the United States, recently appointed in Washington in February of 2023.
Monsieur Bili is a graduate of the French National School of Public Administration (ENA) (Victor Hugo Year and joined the French Foreign Ministry’s Strategic Affairs and Disarmament Directorate shortly after.
Seconded to the Defense Ministry as Deputy Diplomatic Adviser, he then held several positions at the Quai d’Orsay, including: First Secretary and then Second Counsellor at the Embassy of France in Ankara; First Secretary, Permanent Representative of France to the Western European Union (WEU); Adviser to the European Union’s interim Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels, and Head of Strategic Affairs.
Along with serving as the Ambassador of France to the United States, Monsieur Bili has successfully held the positions of Ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, Brazil, and China.
In addition to his extensive work as an ambassador, Laurent Bili has also held important roles as Director of the Defense Minister’s Civilian and Military Office, Director of the Private Office of the Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Technical Adviser at the Diplomatic Unit of the Presidency of the French Republic, and Director-General for Global Affairs, Culture, Education and International Development at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and G7/G20 Sous-Sherpa.
Along with Ambassador Bili's impressive career path, he is also a lover of languages. Laurent is fluent in Turkish, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, and of course French. He also has taken some courses in Indonesian and German and has studied some basic Flemish on his own.
Listen to a personal message from Ambassador Laurent Bili here.