Round table on French language held as part of Francophonie Month

A round table on the French language, organized for the second year in a row as part of the Francophonie Month, was held 18 March at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

A round table on the French language, organized for the second year in a row as part of the Francophonie Month, was held 18 March at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs under the title “French Language in the Service of Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation in Today’s Diplomacy”. It was attended by 50 or so people, including ambassadors of the most prominent francophone countries, Croatian francophone diplomats and other French language and culture enthusiasts.

Moderated by Vladimir Matek, former Croatian ambassador to Sweden and a distinguished diplomat, the round table saw addresses by ambassadors of Canada, France and Belgium, as well as several Croatian francophone diplomats.

Canadian Ambassador to Croatia Louise LaRocque spoke on the subject of “Canada in Francophonie”, underlining that in Canada, where English and French are the official languages, the latter is spoken by a third of the population, or some 10 million people, and is considered mother tongue by a quarter of Canadians.

French Ambassador Michele Boccoz, in her address on “The Role of Francophone Ambassadors in the World”, noted the growing interest among Croatian diplomats for the French language, thanking the Croatian media for following the events pertaining to the francophone culture and civilization.

Belgian Ambassador Nancy Rossignol spoke on “Diplomacy and Multilingualism”. Croatia’s view on francophonie was outlined by advisor at the MFAE Jasmina Vrhovac in her address on “French Language as a Means of Promoting a Foreign Country in France”, Nevena Tudor Perković from the Ministry of Culture on the French Festival in Croatia as its coordinator, Boris Dumančić in his address on “French Language in the Union for the Mediterranean”, and advisor at the MFAE Hrvoje Ćurko on “Forming Croatian Diplomats in and for the French Language”.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie gathers 80 countries. Croatia has an observer status, thanks to which it can establish numerous important contacts. But the situation, according to Matek, could be a lot better. “The rules for raising our status in the IOF are clear – there has to be a certain percentage of francophone people, after which we could apply for full membership. So, it’s now up to the Ministry of Education and our citizens, who have to understand that English is not enough and that it is very important to speak other languages too, including French,” Matek said, adding that he thought a lot more Croatian diplomats should speak French. 

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