Was the mayor of Paris really “in contact with the French authorities”?

Anne Hidalgo assured to have been in contact with Gérald Darmanin during his trip to the Pacific, while the ministry assures that it only learned of the trip of the mayor of Paris after her return.

Anne Hidalgo’s trip continues to be talked about. Criticized by the opposition for her trip to Tahiti and New Caledonia in October, the cost of which the Parisian right denounces as well as the ecological impact, the mayor of Paris continues to try to defend her trip to the Pacific.

While the Paris Council began this Tuesday, November 14 and continues until this Friday, Anne Hidalgo spoke yesterday, during a tense session, of a necessary trip, in the name of “French diplomacy”.

“It is Paris’ role to carry out this city diplomacy alongside French diplomacy, which is carried out in conjunction with French diplomacy. I am thinking of New Caledonia, which is the subject of a process of referendum,” she said.

The ministry not informed of his departure

The Parisian councilor also recalled that the Minister of the Interior himself went “every two months” to New Caledonia “to complete and deepen this process”.

The mayor of Paris also assured that she had been “in contact with the French authorities” and claimed to have “had the opportunity to speak with Gérald Darmanin” about her findings made in New Caledonia.

A justification quickly denied by those around Gérald Darmanin. Contacted by BFM Paris Île-de-France, the ministry assured this Thursday morning that it only learned of the mayor of Paris’ trip once she returned to mainland France.

“If the mayor of Paris indeed spoke with the Minister of the Interior about her meetings with New Caledonian elected officials upon her return to Paris, they did not discuss this before her trip, and the minister was not informed of this one”, we were confirmed.

Criticism has been raining down on Anne Hidalgo since her trip to the Pacific. The right-wing opposition to the Paris Council, chaired by Rachida Dati, denounces a lack of transparency on the use of public funds by the mayor of Paris. An anti-corruption association announced this Wednesday that it had filed a complaint against X for embezzlement of public funds after Anne Hidalgo’s trip.