Thierry Mariani

Early life and education

Thierry Mariani was born on 8 August 1958 in Orange. He is of Italian origin, from Castellafiume. He went to school in Avignon, then Aix-en-Provence, and he attended university in Paris.

Political career

Mariani started a career in politics in 1976, alongside Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the mayor of Valréas, the city where he grew up, from 1989 to 2005. He also served as Vice-President of the general council of the Vaucluse for 13 years. He is a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and an observer of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Since 2009, he has served as a French Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Kabul elections.

In April 2011, the Union for a Popular Movement selected Mariani as its candidate in the newly created Eleventh constituency for French residents overseas (covering French citizens resident in most of Asia, the whole of Oceania, and part of Eastern Europe) for the June 2012 legislative elections.

Since 2012, Mariani has been a member of the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In this capacity, he serves as head of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons; as member of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee); and as member of the Sub-Committee on Crime Problems and the Fight against Terrorism. In 2017, he served as the Assembly's rapporteur on Poland.

Ahead of the 2017 presidential elections, Mariani endorsed former Prime Minister François Fillon's presidential bid.

Overview

Governmental functions

Member of the French Government: Secretary of State for Transports: 2010-2011, Minister of Transports: 2011-2012

Electoral mandates

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Vaucluse (4th constituency) : 1993–2010 (Became secretary of State in 2010). Elected in 1993, reelected in 1997, 2002, 2007.

Member of the National Assembly of France for the Eleventh constituency for French residents overseas : 2012–Present

Regional Council

Regional councillor of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur : 1992–1993 (Resignation) / Since 2004. Reelected in 2004, 2010.

General Council

Vice-president of the General Council of Vaucluse : 1992–2001. Reelected in 1994, 1998.

General councillor of Vaucluse : 1988–2001. Reelected in 1994.

Municipal Council

Mayor of Valréas : 1989–2005 (Resignation). Reelected in 1995, 2001.

Municipal councillor of Valréas : 1989–2005 (Resignation). Reelected in 1995, 2001.

Political positions

In July 2015, Mariani accompanied by Russian officials made a trip to Crimean peninsula which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. In interviews and meetings he expressed support for the annexation. “We welcome the courage of the Crimean Parliament because it was able to make this decision despite the difficult situation and a great risk of escalation”. In 2016, he brought non-binding resolutions to the National Assembly and Senate calling on the European Union to lift economic sanctions against Russia and support all Russian annexations. The resolutions, which had symbolic value, were adopted by both chambers in April and June, respectively. The British National Party, Forza Nuova, Jobbik and Russian National Unity sent positive remarks to him for this.

Also in 2015, Mariani prepared the Council of Europe’s report on Chinese migration to Europe, in which he raised “human rights concerns with regard to trafficking and smuggling rings, the lack of legal protection, and the poor work conditions these immigrants often face.” He has also not supported Taiwan's claim of being the true Republic of China (1912–49), the East Turkestan independence movement, or the Tibetan independence movement.