AP Interview: UNESCO chief says US “empty chair” can’t last
PARIS — New UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay has rebuked the U.S. for its decision to withdraw from the U.N. cultural body for alleged anti-Israel bias and says America is “affected by everything” the agency does.
Following her confirmation Friday as director general, Azoulay acknowledged difficulties in the Paris-based organization that has been rocked by U.S. funding cuts since 2011 over the admission of Palestine as a member.
But the 45-year-old former French culture minister told The Associated Press that the Trump administration’s announcement to pull out of the agency is not tenable in the long term.
“I obviously regret their departure … but this ’empty chair politics’ is not sustainable because the United States is also affected by everything that UNESCO does,” she said, speaking at the agency’s Paris headquarters.