UAE enters in the Durov/telegram affaire. Macron wanted Telegram to be French

Something is moving in the case of Pavel Durov. After Russia, which asked to grant consular protection to Durov and was turned down, it is now the United Arab Emirates’ turn to come forward. Recall that the businessman is a citizen of Russia, France, Dubai and St. Kitt & Nevis, and that his company is based precisely in the Emirate.

The Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement that it is closely following the Durov case and that consular authorities in France are taking an interest in it, confirming that the UAE takes care of its citizens abroad. It is an announcement that could carry far more weight than a simple statement of principle.

In fact, the Emirates are clients of French military industries, and among the best: Rafale fighter jets and Leclerc tanks are the base of these countries’ armed forces. Not only that: since July, confidential talks had been underway between the two countries for the purchase of additional batches of new F4 Rafale fighters and French-made drones.

These are nine-figure contracts capable of moving Paris’ GDP at a very sensitive time. If the UAE decided to actually pressure France, they would have every means to do so. However, Macron has said that the country is “A rule of law” and that the judiciary is independent. I wonder if it is also so from the missing billion-dollar arms orders.

Macron wanted Telegram

French President Emmanuel Macron invited Telegram founder Pavel Durov to move the company to Paris as early as 2018, writes the Wall Street Journal, citing sources.

Macron has also discussed granting French citizenship to Telegram’s CEO, according to one of the sources. However, Durov refused to move Telegram to Paris but accepted the citizenship and this may have been, over time, a trap set to set him up. the entrepreneur trusted France and therefore entered the apese without fear.

A glaring mistake, which Durov would not have made if he had remembered how France behaved with the Duc d’Enghien.

According to the WSJ, in 2017, the intelligence services of France and the United Arab Emirates hacked Pavel Durov’s iPhone during a joint operation. The espionage operation was reportedly codenamed “Purple Music.” The newspaper claims that French security officials were concerned that the Islamic State was using Telegram to recruit militants and plan attacks.