French FM condemns US denial of Palestinian visas to UN meeting

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has strongly criticised the United States for denying entry visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, calling the decision “unacceptable.”

Speaking ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Copenhagen, Barrot stressed that access to the United Nations headquarters in New York “cannot be subject to any restrictions," Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

He added, “the United Nations headquarters is a neutral place in the service of peace, and attendance at the UN General Assembly cannot be subject to any restrictions.”

The controversy follows the US announcement on August 29 that it would not permit Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York next month for a United Nations gathering of world leaders.

The meeting, which several US allies plan to use to recognise Palestine as a state, would also have included approximately 80 other Palestinian officials, who are now affected by the decision to deny and revoke visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Under a 1947 U.N. “headquarters agreement,” the United States is generally required to allow foreign diplomats access to the U.N. in New York. Washington, however, maintains it has the authority to deny visas on grounds of security, extremism, or foreign policy considerations.

By Sabina Mammadli