Foreign Minister Urmas Paet Opens Estonian Honorary Consulate in Bordeaux
17.02.2010
Nr 51-E
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet opened the Estonian Honorary Consulate in Bordeaux on Tuesday, 16 February. It is the fifth Estonian honorary consulate in France. The Estonian honorary consul in Bordeaux is Christian Roger Emmanuel de Barillon.
During the opening, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet noted that the honorary consulate will help us introduce Estonia in Bordeaux and in France as a whole. “Tallinn and Bordeaux both belong to the list of cities on the UNESCO World Heritage list,” said Foreign Minister Paet, adding that the cities could have active co-operation in student exchange, tourism, economics and culture. “Our new honorary consul has long-time experience working in the financial sector and many contacts in the local chamber of commerce, so we hope that we can start up various co-operation projects on the initiative of the honorary consul,” said Paet.
The new Estonian honorary consul Christian Roger Emmanuel de Barillon stated that Bordeaux is a famous port city that has developed an active consular network with 33 honorary consuls. The honorary consul also said that the opening of the Estonian Honorary Consulate in Bordeaux offers a good opportunity to better introduce Estonia. The honorary consul believes it is important to develop economic and cultural ties as well as co-operation in the information technology sector.
The consular area covered by the Estonian Honorary Consulate is the Aquitaine region in south-western France. The honorary consulate is located at 14 Place des Quinconces, 33000 Bordeaux, France. The honorary consul can be reached by phone at +33 556 51 13 25 or by email at chdebda@club-internet.fr.
Christian Roger Emmanuel de Barillon was born on 22 November 1938 in Bordeaux. He graduated from the economics department at the University of Bordeaux. The honorary consul has been involved in banking for many years, working in different regions of France. Christian Roger Emmanuel de Barillon also worked for several years as the financial and administrative counsellor to the former prime and foreign minister of France Alain Marie Juppé. Christian Roger Emmanuel de Barillon visited Estonia for the first time in 2006. The honorary consul speaks French and English.
In addition to the new honorary consul in Bordeaux, Estonia has four other honorary consuls in France in Toulouse, Lyon, Nancy, and Lille.
Tomorrow Foreign Minister Urmas Paet will sign an agreement of privileges and immunities during a meeting with Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurría in Paris. Concluding the agreement of privileges and immunities is one of the conditions of Estonia’s accession to the OECD.
