In an investigative piece from Raphaël Tresanini for Canal+’s Spécial Investigation followed the money trail from its recipient, the French far right Party Le Front National, to its donors, Russian Oligarchs.
Front National : L'oeil de Moscou - Spécial Investigation (Nov 2nd, 2015):
www.youtube.com/…
The way the French Far Right deals with questions about Putin reminded me of Trump…
If you don’t understand French, you may want to read below the detailed account I made. It may shine some light on what’s going on with trump.
The report begins by showing Marine Le Pen praising Putin. She loves the man.
- In March 2014, she publicly accepted the results of the referendum on the return to Russia of Crimea (A.K.A the annexation)
- A few months later, Russian banks lent 11M euros to the FN. The first time in the French 5th Republic that a Political Party receives finances from a foreign country.
- It’s not only about money. There are also ideological convergences. Russians have a geopolitical project for Europe, including France.
At the 15th congress of the Front National in the French city of Lyon in 2014, Marine Le Pen is elected president of the party getting 100% of the votes. Among the guests, they found:
- Andrei Klimov, Senator in the Federation Council (Upper House Russian Parliament) and deputy chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee [link].
- Andrei Isaiev, Vice President of the Russian’s Duma (Lower House of the Russian Parliament).
- He represented the hardline of Putin’s party United Russia.
- He tells the reporter “We are very interested in the ideas of Le Front National. Vladimir Putin is open to dialog with all European forces aspiring to dialog with Russia. Le Front National is one of those principle forces.”
- Therefore, Putin sees Le Front National as an ally
Oct 13th, 2011 Marine Le Pen gives an interview to Kommersant, one of the main Russian news papers where she says “I won’t hide that to a certain extent, I admire Vladimir Putin.” In the following months, the program of Le Front National evolves to put Russia as the party’s #1 ally when it comes to foreign policies:
- There’s a reference to an offer for an advanced strategic alliance
- Build an alliance between Paris, Berlin and Moscow
- Formation of a PanEuropean Union including Russia
Then the report switches to focus on the founder of Le Front National. During an interview where he declares admiring Putin, Jean-Marie Le Pen (Marine’s father) tries to hide a planned trip to a foreign country. So the reporting team just following Le Pen to find that the trip is to Moscow. They follow him there and discover that Le Pen has a set of meetings:
- Le Pen meets Aleksandr Dugin, an ideologist of Russian nationalism close to Putin. He is blocked from entering the US because of his role in the Ukrainian’s crises.
- Le Pen also meets Konstantin V. Malofeev taking with him a particularly big briefcase to the headquarter of Marshall Capital. Konstantin Malofeev is the chairman of the Board of Directors of the group «Tsargrad» and founder of the international investment fund Marshall Capital Partners. He is a religious (Russian Orthodox Church) nationalist. He is barred from entering the European Union. The EU Parliament states that he is connected to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian government is investigating him for his financial and material support to the separatist.
The reporter claims without evidence that the two men -- Aleksandr Dugin and Konstantin V. Malofeev – work for Putin with the objective to orchestrate a geopolitical push in the EU. But this claim introduces the next part of the report. This claim is in fact what the reporter tries to show in the rest of the documentary.
The report jumps to another European country: Austria. There, an Austrian journalist specialized in the far right reveals that, on May 31st, 2014, in Vienna, Aleksandr Dugin and Konstantin V. Malofeev hosted a meeting with the main European Far Right parties. There were about 30 guests from all over the EU. Invited parties included the Austrian FPO founded by former SS, the Bulgarian Ataka founded by an anti-Semitic ideologist, the Italian Liga Nord, and the French Front National with Marion Marechal Le Pen (the niece) and Aymeric Chauprade (the European Member of Parliament).
Although the meeting was secret with instructions given by the Russian not to take notes, pictures, etc, some guests started to talk including to the French reporter on camera.
- The summary given by the Austrian journalist states that the Russians’ goal is to be able to rely on those European parties for the mission that is to rebuild Europe, not just Russia. The Russian ideology finds its roots in the Orthodox Church dominance (rebuild the East Roman empire dominated by Russia).
- The Austrian man from the FPO who talked on camera states that Putin was a recurrent topic of the meeting and that he was compared to the tsar Alexander I of Russia.
Aymeric Chauprade becomes then the focus of the report showing that since 2011, the Front National’s deputy at the European Parliament, travelled to Moscow 1-2 times every month to show tell rRussians on Russian TV, at the Kremlin, and at the Duma that the values held by the Front National are shared with Russians’. Example, on June 13th, 2013, Aymeric Chauprade is an honorary guest at the Duma. There was no camera on that day but his speech was transcripted as follows: “Patriots of the world turn their sight toward Moscow. Russia became the world’s hope against the new totalitarism.”
Going back to the 15th congress of the Front National in the city of Lyon in 2014 (cf. the beginning), the report points to the fact that most of the Far Right guests of the meeting of Vienna where present in lyon, including:
- Heinz-Christian Strache (FPO, Austria)
- Matteo Salvini & Lorenzo Fontana (Lega Nord, Italie). Interviewed by the reporter, Lorenzo states on camera that Lega Nord has a constant contact with Russia, and that Russians want to put in place the foundations of a new society and need the Far Right parties to reach that goal.
The next section of the report deals with the nature of the Russian help starting with mediapart’s investigative report made on Nov 22nd, 2014 dealing with the 11 millions euros in loan given to the Front National. When asked on camera about the type of guaranty Le Front National gave to the Russians, Jean-Marie Le Pen answers “Me”: He is the guaranty. The 11M euro comes in two loans
- The 1st loan is of 2M and was made by the Vernonsia Holding ltd held by Yuri Kudimov, an ex. KGB agent turned businessman in finance industry [link]. Yuri Kudimov is close to Konstantin Malofeev, the man who organized the meeting in Vienna, and also the man Jean-Marie Le Pen met in Moscow.
- The 2nd loan is of 9M and was made by the First Czech Russian Bank a very small structure owned mostly (94%) by Stroytransgaz a branch of Gazprom the Kremlin’s ATM. Roman Popov is the CEO of the First Czech Russian Bank and was the finance director of Stroytransgaz.
Then the reporter flies back to Moscow. It happens on the day (February 27th, 2015) when Boris Nemtsov was assassinated near the Kremlin. There were anti-Putin protests in the streets. Some individuals talked to the French reporter commenting on their knowledge of the Russian loan to the Front National. The comment from one man is: “I’m not trying to upset you but I believe that the ones who took Putin’s money will have to work very hard to give it back. I can tell you right now that it won’t end well.”
The reporter then meets the financier who works for Konstantin Malofeev since Malofeev is both the man Le Pen met in Moscow and the close friend of Yuri Kudimov whose holding lent the money. The interview is not very productive but at some point the financier drops “You won’t be able to prove it”, to the question “Did Malofeev give the money?” The idea here is to confirm the link between the Oligarch to the transaction. But, the way the interview goes suggests omerta is alive and well. It may just be my interpretation at this point of the documentary.
Then, the French reporter visits Novaya Gazetta one of the rare independent newspaper still around. That news organization is known for having lost many journalists killed generally violently. The Russian journalist explains how Putin holds it all. In short, he uses as pawns businessmen who were found to have violated the law. These businessmen form the Kremlin’s Service Sphere. This way, there is no direct link between Putin and his actions. It could be said that it’s only the Journalist’s view at this point in the documentary.
The French Reporter then meets with the assistant of Roman Popov, the president of the First Czech Russian Bank that lent 9M euros to the Front National. She too refuses to talk although she says that the bank does not lend to political organizations. So, when asked why then they made an exception for the Front National, she immediately stops the interview. This fits with the Kremlin’s Service Sphere told by the Russian journalist of Novaya Gazetta.
On another note: the visit to the bank’s headquarter brought one thing adding to the Kremlin’s Service Sphere theory. There are n the walls many pictures showing Roman Popov, the CEO of the bank, with Putin and Medvedev despite the very small size of the bank (ranked only 717th in Russia).
The report then moves to the topic of Crimea. The goal is to show that service was rendered by the Front National to the Kremlin. Hackers helped in this case to make the link between the Kremlin, Marine Le Pen and Crimea. What they got are text messages between two collaborators of Vladimir Putin. It goes like this:
- Col#1 “Marine is campaigning today or tomorrow, Le Front National will take its official position about Crimea.”
- Col#2 “Great. We can convince them”
- Col#1 “Has anybody from the funds contacted you for the financing?”
- Col#2 “Yes, the vice-minister of foreign affairs will call”
Soon after, the referendum takes place in Crimea. On that same day, Marine Le Pen is the only French politician to recognize the annexation. Then, on that same day again, the two collaborators had more texts to share:
- Col#1 “Marine Le Pen has officially recognized the results of the referendum on Crimea”
- Col#2 “She did not disappoint us”
- Col#1 “We will have to thanks her one way or another. It’s important”
A few weeks later the First Czech Russian Bank lends 9M euros to the Front National. To my sense, the hacked text messages close the deal as they indicate that the Kremlin is linked not only to Marine Le Pen but also to the money. If you add to this Loan, the meeting in Vienna hosted by Aleksandr Dugin and Konstantin V. Malofeev, and the comments about the Kremlin’s goal made by the right wing folks from the FPO and the Liga Nord then you get a pretty scary picture of what Putin is doing.
In the last part, the reporter tries to show that the relationship between the Front National and the Kremlin may become a big problem for the Front National to begin with. Remember that the demonstrator in the street of Moscow said “I can tell you right now that it won’t end well.” Well some folks at the Front National have started to be wary of the Russians.
It happens at the EU’s Parliament in Brussels. But first, the report shows an excerpt from Aleksandr Dugin, the ideologist of Russian nationalism. On April 13th, 2013, he stated on Russian TV that Russia should invade Europe and annex it. He then added that the communist party was doing a good job infiltrating the EU parliament [before the collapse of the USSR]. The goal of that excerpt is to suggest that the Kremlin is probably using European far right parties as Trojan Horses into the EU Parliament.
Then the report reveals that the hackers also got their hands on Aleksandr Dugin’s emails. Among the hundreds of documents they gathered, they found a list of contact points to influence policies in European countries. When it comes to France, Aymeric Chauprade, the European MP, is his man. When shown the list and asked to comment, Aymeric Chauprade says “And so what? Some are pro-American. Others are pro-Russians.” Basically, he does not deny and then he acts as if there were many governments on this planet befriending far right organizations. I mean, they used to feel lonely.
Just after that brief interview with Aymeric Chauprade, the reporter is served with a hot mic catching a discussion, within the parliament, between Aymeric Chauprade and another MP of the Front National.
That 2nd MP also travels regularly to Moscow and he just happened to have bad news to bring from there. As the 2nd MP informs about Konstantin Malofeev’s search (VTB case), Aymeric replies “I know. They are all a bit like that.” Then the 2nd MP retorts “I agree, but you should be careful, he [Malofeev] got one of my friends in troubles [...] [my friend] earned multiple businesses from this man [Malofeev] and they all appeared to be illegal. He risks his life now. Malofeev stinks.” The 2nd MP then explains that Marine Le Pen herself may end up in trouble for being too naïve. He specifically says “She risks to be phagocytized” meaning she will progressively lose freedom of action and become Putin’s puppet. Remember what the journalist of Novaya Gazetta said? Putin waits for you to break the law and then uses you. Konstantin Malofeev has been investigated multiple times. The MP’s friend found out that this man’s business is all rotten. Yet, he’s still around, lending money to far right parties around Europe.
The report ends with the reporter attempting to get Marine Le Pen to say something about the phagocytize comment. She obviously had nothing to say. I personally won’t be surprised if one day the news says that Trump has been totally phagocytized by Putin.