Yesterday, 17th of December 2015, The EUROMARFOR Permanent Cell representative of France, Commander Benoit Bernard, was awarded as Knight of French National Order of Merit (French: Ordre national du Mérite).

The event took place at beautiful Palace Farnese, the Embassy of France in Rome.

The EUROMARFOR Permanent Cell members where there, among other civilian and military authorities.

The National Order of Merit  is an Order of State with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the Order’s establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ministerial orders previously awarded by the ministries; and to create an award that can be awarded at a lower level than the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour), which is generally reserved for French citizens.