The French embassy in Cambodia has paid tribute to Roland Dumas, former French minister of Foreign Affairs who died yesterday, at the age of 101 years old.

“He played a major role in the Paris Accords process of peace in Cambodia. The embassy team sends its condolences to his family and friends,” said a social media post by the embassy.  

Dumas served as French foreign minister from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1993.

He held the role during some of the most significant geopolitical events of the late 20th century, including the Gulf War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

During his second term, he organised major negotiations between rival Cambodian factions. The negotiations led to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, officially known as the Comprehensive Cambodian Peace Agreements.

The agreements, signed by 19 countries in October 1991, marked the official end to fighting in Cambodia, although violent factions remained active.

It included the Agreement Concerning the Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability, Neutrality and National Unity of Cambodia, and led to the establishment of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

Independent political analyst Lao Mong Hay explained Dumas’s profound contributions to the Paris talks.

“Dumas played a pivotal role in the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991. He succeeded in bringing together, first the leaders of two fighting factions – then-Prince Sihanouk and then-Prime Minister Hun Sen – and then all four of the combatant factions and other concerned parties, to hammer out the agreements,” he said.