French press review
In the spotlight: new European sanctions brandished against Moscow which disappoint Ukraine
Audio 05:02
The leaders of the European Union in front of the Palace of Versailles, March 10, 2022. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER
By: Norbert Navarro
4 mins
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A real roadmap for strengthening Europe's Achilles' heels, the "Versailles Declaration", adopted yesterday by the European summit to strengthen Europe, opens up projects such as defence, energy or food continental.
In all these areas, the European Commission will have to make concrete proposals with a view to new summits at the end of March and then next May.
And in Versailles, indeed, Emmanuel Macron, without saying more, mentioned possible new “
massive sanctions
” from the European Union against Moscow,
Le Figaro
points out .
However, admits this newspaper, for the Twenty-Seven, "
the room for maneuver seems narrow
".
But in Ukraine, it's disappointment.
As the
Élysée had “sworn
”, recalls
Le Parisien
, it was to be the summit of the “
European surge
(…)
Alas, this is not the opinion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
”, notes this daily.
Would the latter have hoped from its outcome an announcement of express accession of his country to the European Union?
Well no, "
war and even war crimes, exodus, refugees by the millions are not a pass
", summarizes
Le Parisien
.
As this newspaper points out,
the contrast between the images of the leaders admiring, smiling, the paintings of the Galerie des Batailles – the very one which Macron did the honors to Vladimir Poutine five years ago
– (…)
and those, day after day, of the tragedy Ukrainian, is striking.
And above all revealing the impotence of Europe
”.
Moldova in the antechamber of war?
And as war rages in Ukraine, tension is mounting in neighboring Moldova, in the self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria.
The pro-Russians are "
ambushed
" there, warns
Le Figaro
.
According to a former Moldovan soldier encountered by this newspaper, "
the Russian army, stationed in the self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria
(not recognized by the international community),
could intervene sooner or later in Ukraine, and even in Moldova, if Putin gave the order
”.
With a powerful Russian arsenal and a total workforce that
Le Figaro
reports as being estimated at "
30,000
men, this military force, according to this information, could be quickly mobilized in the Ukrainian theater of operations.
Reporting information from its Moldovan military source,
Le Figaro
also writes that around "
200 militiamen from the Wagner group also trained
" in Transnistria.
Did Omar “kill” him?
These revelations, finally, which could well exonerate Omar Raddad, this Moroccan gardener, convicted of murdering the person of his boss Ghislaine Marchal, in February 1991, in Mougins (south-eastern France).
It is in particular on the strength of a message written in letters of blood on a wall of the crime scene and attributed to the victim, the message "
Omar killed me
", the verb "kill" being falsely written there the infinitive (and not, as it should have been, in the past participle), that Omar Raddad had been sentenced to 18 years in prison, then pardoned and released.
Ten years ago, reveals a book* written by three, including a journalist from Le
Parisien
, a woman testified that, under the authority of the Grasse prosecutor, gendarmes investigated "
the confidences of a source imputing the murder of Ghislaine Marchal to the sponsors of a burglary at the widow's house
".
Investigations “
never leaked
” and which were “
stopped without known justification
”, states
Le Parisien.
According to a police report consulted by the authors of this book, "
two brothers
", who knew the woman-witness, "
would have returned on the day of the events, carrying traces of blood
" and would have threatened the said woman, telling her “
If one day we are asked about the Marchal affair, we will know that it is you, because you are the only one who knows
”.
blood in the pizza
Named Martial, one of the alleged burglar brothers would be 72 years old today, “
if he still lives
”, notes
Le Parisien
.
At the time, he held "
underhand
" near Nice a pizzeria frequented by the victim and his gardener.
According to
Le Parisien
, "
witnesses even heard Martial and individuals from Eastern countries discuss the preparations
" for the burglary.
Le Parisien
thus consulted a summary report dated February 12, 2004, stipulating that, duly cross-checked, the “
elements collected
(by the gendarmerie)
could definitively exonerate the so-called Raddad Omar
”.
According to the latter's lawyer quoted by
Le Parisien
"
these incredible revelations amount to saying that justice has deprived Omar Raddad of a chance to have his innocence recognized
".
*
Ministry of Injustice
, by Jean-Michel Décugis, Pauline Guéna and Marc Leplongeon (Grasset).
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