France Says to Call in U.S. Ambassador Over Far-Right Killing Comments

(MENAFN) France moved to formally rebuke the United States on Sunday, announcing it would summon Washington's top diplomat in Paris after American officials publicly weighed in on the killing of a French far-right activist — a move Paris swiftly condemned as political interference.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed the diplomatic step in remarks to local media, citing the U.S. Embassy in France's decision to comment on what he characterized as a matter of domestic concern.

"We are going to summon the United States ambassador to France, since the US Embassy in France commented on this tragedy ... which concerns the national community," Barrot said.

He issued a pointed warning against foreign exploitation of the incident, stating: "We reject any attempt to use this tragedy ... for political purposes."

The confrontation stems from the February 12 killing of Quentin Deranque, a French far-right activist who died after being beaten in an altercation with alleged hard-left assailants.

Both the U.S. Embassy in Paris and the U.S. State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau signaled they were tracking the case, each posting warnings on X that "violent radical leftism is on the rise" and ought to be treated as a public safety threat — remarks that drew an immediate and formal response from the French government.

The summoning of U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner marks a rare and pointed diplomatic escalation between two longtime allies.

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