In a message published this Thursday morning, former Prime Minister François Fillon condemned "the use of force" in Ukraine, while considering that it stemmed from the positioning of Westerners.
The closeness between François Fillon and Vladimir Poutine goes back to the time when they were both Prime Ministers.
On numerous occasions, the former French Prime Minister has supported Moscow's policy.
A condemnation of the bombings in Ukraine that sounds like a reproach.
This is the feeling that emerges from the message posted this Thursday morning by the former Prime Minister, François Fillon.
"In 2014, I regretted the conditions of the annexation of Crimea and today I condemn the use of force in Ukraine", wrote on his Twitter account the former head of government of Nicolas Sarkozy.
Before adding: “But for ten years, I have been warning against the refusal of Westerners to take into account Russian claims on the expansion of NATO.
This attitude led to a dangerous confrontation that could have been avoided.
»
A position decried by part of the political class – from the Greens to the Republicans, via La République en Marche – but not surprising.
François Fillon has, in fact, never hidden his attraction for this country and his closeness to Vladimir Poutine.
In 2013, as the war raged in Syria, he repeatedly criticized the Syrian policy of the Allies – and therefore of France – and on the contrary supported the Russian president in his desire for rapprochement with Bashar Al-Assad.
In 2014, if he denounced the annexation of Crimea, he strongly opposed the sanctions taken against Russia.
A position that he develops in his book,
Faire
(ed. Albin Michel), published in 2015: he considers that the Kremlin has committed “several faults with regard to international law” by annexing this province, but he makes the European Union responsible for the crisis.
“By wanting to tear Ukraine away from Russian influence at all costs, Europe has committed a historic fault,” he writes.
This is the position he still holds today.
"He makes them benefit from his network and his influence"
Withdrawn from political life since his failure in the French presidential election of 2017, the ex-tenant of Matignon has not turned his back on the kingdom of the tsars.
Since the end of December, he has been an "independent director" of the Russian petrochemical giant Sibur, a group controlled by Leonid Mikhelson, one of the country's richest men, and Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin.
In June 2021, he joined the board of directors of a Russian oil group, public this one, Zaroubejneft.
Officially, he was recruited by Sibur for his “unique expertise” in sustainable development.
In reality, "it's a lobbying position, it's about defending the positions of these companies with groups and European bodies, analyzes Julien Nocetti,
associate researcher at the French Institute of International Relations, specialist in Russia.
He gives them the benefit of his network and his influence.
»
And it is far from being the only one in Europe.
In 2005, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder took over as head of Gazprom, which operates the gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany.
In 2017, a new step: he was elected chairman of the board of directors of the Russian oil giant Rosneft… a group nevertheless targeted by Western sanctions.
His closeness to Vladimir Putin is such that, in 2014, in the midst of the Crimean crisis, he celebrated his birthday by his side.
And what about former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl, who danced a waltz at her wedding in June 2018 to the strongman from Moscow?
Since June, she has sat alongside Gerhard Schröder on the board of directors of Rosneft.
A “symbolically very strong” positioning
“The list is long,” insists Julien Nocetti.
And to quote for example the former president of the Italian council Matteo Renzi, or a former Finnish Prime Minister.
“For Russia, the whole point is to benefit from the networks and influence of these policies,” notes the researcher.
Through their speeches and their interviews, they propagate a pro-Russian discourse and contribute to polarizing the debates, particularly on security issues.
»
Because, although he is retired from political life, François Fillon publishes, in the middle of the electoral campaign, a message that is not neutral.
It reflects the pro-Russian positions and the distrust of the European Union of the far right and part of the far left.
“Its positioning is not a surprise, but it is symbolically very strong, insists Julien Nocetti.
That a former Prime Minister plays in favor of the Kremlin in such a crisis is a sign that Russia's lobbying policy for foreign policy purposes is very strong.
»
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World
Francois Fillon
War in Ukraine
Russia
Vladimir Poutine
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