Miss France was crowed Miss Universe on Monday in a made-for-television spectacle free of last year’s dramatic mix-up but with a dash of political controversy as the finalists spoke out on the refugee crisis and other hot-button global issues.
Iris Mittenaere, a dental surgery student from Lille in the north of France, beat 85 of the world’s most beautiful women at the event in the Philippines scheduled for primetime viewing in the United States.
Mittenaere, 24, edged out Miss Haiti, the first runner-up, and Miss Colombia the second runner-up.
In the final question round, Miss France highlighted the benefits of open borders when asked about the global refugee crisis.
“In France we want to have the most globalisation that we can. We want to have the biggest exchange of people that we can. Maybe someday that will change but now we have open borders,” Mittenaere said.
