Charles Fries

Charles Fries (born 30 December 1962) is a senior civil servant and French diplomat. He is the brother of Fabrice Fries, Chief Executive Officer of the news agency Agence France Presse.

Education Fries graduated from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris in 1983 (public service section) and in 1985 from the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne with a master's degree in public law. He was a student at Ecole Normale d'Administration (ENA) in the "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" class (1989). In 1984, he obtained a higher teaching diploma from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris (piano).

Cabinet advisor In May 2002, following the re-election of President Jacques Chirac, he joined the cabinet of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dominique de Villepin, before joining the diplomatic team at the Elysée Palace as Europe Adviser (July 2002-September 2006). During this period, Fries was particularly involved in the negotiation and ratification of the European Constitutional Treaty, Franco-German relations and EU enlargement. and then, from August 2015 to April 2020, Ambassador of France to Turkey.

EEAS Brussels In May 2020 Fries was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service of the European Union (EEAS), the diplomatic service of the European Union, in charge of peace, security and defence issues at EU level. Reporting to the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, he is responsible for promoting the role of the European Union so that it is better able to defend its security interests and respond to external crises.

Fries played a significant role in shaping major EU security and defence interventions through his tenure as EEAS Deputy Secretary General. Most notably, he has steered the inception and preparation of the 2022 Strategic Compass for Security and Defence - the EU security and defence strategy - the planning and negotiation of the EU military support to Ukraine, the oversight of EU missions and operations, such as EULEX Kosovo and EUMM Georgia, and the establishment of new ones such as the EU Mission in Armenia, EUTM Mozambique, and EUNAVFOR ASPIDES.

Honours