Early career

Mariani started a career in politics in 1976, alongside Nicolas Sarkozy.^[4] He held the mayorship of Valréas, the city where he grew up, from 1989 to 2005.^[5][6][7] He was elected to the General Council of Vaucluse for the canton of Valréas from 1988 to 2001 and served as one of its vice presidents for the last nine years of his tenure.^[4] He also was a regional councillor of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2004 to 2015. In the 1993 legislative election, he was elected to the National Assembly in Vaucluse's 4th constituency. He has been a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and an observer of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.^[1] In 2009, he was appointed as the French Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan during the Kabul elections.^[5][8]

In government

Thierry Mariani with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis in 2012

On 14 November 2010, he was appointed Secretary of State at the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable development, Transport and Housing. On 29 June 2011, his title was changed to Minister in charge of Transport, a junior minister office under Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.

In opposition

Mariani at the 2016 Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

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, as well as part of Eastern Europe) for the 2012 legislative election.^[9] In Vaucluse's 4th constituency, he was succeeded by Jacques Bompard. Ahead of the 2017 presidential election, Mariani endorsed former Prime Minister François Fillon's presidential bid.^[10] In the subsequent 2017 legislative election, he ran for reelection but was heavily defeated by Anne Genetet. In the 2019 election, he was elected to the European Parliament as an Independent on the National Rally list.

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". From 2012 to 2017, Mariani was a member of the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In this capacity, he served as head of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons;^[11] 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 National Assembly's rapporteur on Poland.^[12]

Mariani was chosen to lead the National Rally list in the 2021 regional election in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, where he challenged Renaud Muselier's presidency over the regional council. Some commentators deemed the election to be the National Rally's best chance to win a regional majority for the first time in its history. However, his list placed second (42.7%) in the second round after winning the first (36.3%).^[13]

Links with Azerbaijan

Therry Mariani is a member of Azerbaijan's Friends Association, which, according to Le Monde, is the main tool of the caviar diplomacy used by the authoritarian state of Azerbaijan especially in France.^[14][15] As a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) member, he was known as one of the key actors of caviar diplomacy in Europe and a strong support of the Ilham Aliyev regime.

The PACE investigation report mentions Mariani as one of the MPs who were not sensitive to human rights violations in Azerbaijan and were backing the Azerbaijani authorities in the PACE. Mariani figures prominently as a friend of the Aliyev regime in the French documentary series by France 2, called Cash Investigation: Mon président est en voyage d’affaires. Mariani has personal relations with the Aliyev family; he has repeatedly spoken alongside Mehriban Aliyeva, Azerbaijan's First Lady, at several Azerbaijani-organised events in France.^[16] Mariani is the Chairman of the NGO L'Eurasie, les nouveaux horizons, a member-organisation of the European Academy for Election Observation, an election observation NGO founded by Azerbaijan apologists Stef Goris and Alain Destexhe, which has promoted Azerbaijani interests in Europe.^[17] In 2010, the NGO  L'Eurasie, les nouveaux horizons co-organised an event with an NGO led by Elkhan Suleymanov, an Azerbaijani MP at the centre of lobbying scandals in the PACE. He was also one of the key persons of the Azerbaijani Laundromat.^[18]

Russian annexation of Crimea

In July 2015, Mariani, accompanied by Russian officials, made a trip to Crimean Peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014. In interviews and meetings he expressed support: "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".^[19] In 2016, he brought non-binding resolutions to the National Assembly and Senate calling on the European Union to lift economic sanctions against Russia.^[10] The resolutions, which had symbolic value, were adopted by both chambers in April and June, respectively.^[20]

Relation with China

Mariani has not supported Taiwan's claim of being the true Republic of China (1912–1949), the East Turkestan independence movement, or the Tibetan independence movement.^[21]