Un fil en français sur l'argent et les connexions russes du Rassemblement National.

Les contacts entre la famille Le Pen et la Russie ne datent pas d'hier. Le "partenaire" russe du père Le Pen dans les années 1990 était Vladimir Jirinovski, un ultranationaliste à grande gueule comme lui. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMBcpA1xI9A

En 2005, Le Pen rencontre Sergei Babourine, du parti Rodina, un parti d'extrême droite aligné sur le Kremlin. Rodina était principalement un véhicule mis en place par Poutine et ses conseillers pour canaliser le soutien nationaliste. https://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2005/06/29/jean-marie-le-pen-vante-a-moscou-l-europe-boreale_667346_3214.html

En 2011, Marine Le Pen devient cheffe du parti, et souhaite lui donner un profil plus "respectable" par rapport à son père. Il faut alors aussi des partenaires plus crédibles à l'étranger. En 2011, elle confie qu'elle "admire" Vladimir Poutine. https://www.lepoint.fr/presidentielle/marine-le-pen-dit-admirer-vladimir-poutine-13-10-2011-1384085_3121.php

Mais le parti a des problèmes d'argent récurrents. Avant de pouvoir recevoir du financement public, il faut avancer des sommes que le parti n'a pas. https://www.lejdd.fr/Politique/le-fn-empetre-dans-ses-problemes-dargent-3499061

D'autant plus qu'après le scandale du financement de la campagne présidentielle de Nicolas Sarkozy en 2007, les banques deviennent de plus en plus frileuses pour octroyer des prêts aux partis politiques. https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/dossier/notre-dossier-l-argent-libyen-de-sarkozy

C'est encore le cas aujourd'hui en raison des nombreux scandales liés au financement des partis politiques, et des éventuels problèmes d'image. Les banques veulent rester/apparaître neutres.  https://www.lefigaro.fr/elections/presidentielles/presidentielle-2022-des-banques-de-plus-en-plus-frileuses-vis-a-vis-des-politiques-20211201

Le problème d'image est spécialement important pour le Front national, qui déclare en 2014 qu'aucune banque française ne veut lui prêter un centime. Le Pen est en contact avec de nombreuses banques en France et à l'étranger. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/11/23/le-front-national-a-emprunte-de-l-argent-a-une-banque-russe_4527889_823448.html

Finalement, le RN obtient un prêt de 9 millions d'euros d'une banque russe en 2014, la First Czech Russian Bank. Des politiciens russes ont vraisemblablement participé à l'organisation de ce prêt. C'est l'année où la Russie annexe la Crimée. https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/first-czech-russian-bank-case-study/

En Russie, il n'est pas exceptionnel d'utiliser des entités privées controlées par des proches pour poursuivre des objectifs purement politiques. La FCRB semblait faire partie de ce type de réseau. https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/first-czech-russian-bank-case-study/

Selon Mediapart, dans les discussions autour du prêt, des arguments ont été échangés entre les intermédiaires russes et le RN autour de l'Ukraine. Cela ressemble un peu à un quiproquo. https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/020517/la-vraie-histoire-du-financement-russe-de-le-pen

Par la suite le RN promeut des positions systématiquement alignées sur celles du Kremlin. En 2017, Le Pen déclare que l'annexion de la Crimée par la Russie n'est pas illégale, et qu'il n'y a pas lieu de contester les résultats du référendum d'indépendance https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/fn/pour-marine-le-pen-l-annexion-russe-de-la-crimee-n-est-pas-illegale_1865383.html

..même si les preuves d'intimidation et les irrégularités sont légion. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/thugs-on-the-streets-for-crimeas-referendum

En 2017, elle rencontre Poutine à Moscou. La séance photos, censée démontrer qu'elle est crédible auprès des leaders étrangers, se retrouvera sur le tract de l'élection présidentielle de 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/24/putin-welcomes-le-pen-to-moscow-with-a-nudge-and-a-wink

Pendant ce temps, si Trump fait volte-face sur sa position vis-à-vis de l'OTAN, elle reste ferme dans son opposition. Notez qu'à l'heure actuelle, son parti doit de l'argent à une entité financière russe. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/14/politics/le-pen-trump-nato/index.html

Mais entre-temps, des trucs pas très nets se produisent avec le prêt de la banque russe. En 2016, la banque fait faillite, des documents sont détruits. https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/first-czech-russian-bank-case-study/

Mais le prêt ne disparaît pas pour autant ; il est transféré à différentes entités, pour aboutir à une société d'aviation impliquée dans des "partenariats stratégiques pour l'État russe, y compris des exportations vers le ministère syrien de la défense". https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/first-czech-russian-bank-case-study/

En 2019, Le RN ne parvient pas à rembourser une tranche, et est poursuivi par Aviazapatchast, l'entreprise d'aviation active en Syrie qui est maintenant son créditeur.
https://www.franceinter.fr/marine-le-pen-sommee-de-rembourser-les-russes-et-son-pere

En 2020, le parti de Le Pen et la société russe se mettent d'accord sur un nouvel échéancier pour rembourser le prêt d'ici 2028, à savoir 322 000 € tous les 3 mois. Lorsque la guerre en Ukraine éclate, le parti doit toujours de l'argent à la Russie. https://www.ouest-france.fr/politique/rassemblement-national/la-justice-russe-publie-les-details-du-reechelonnement-du-pret-du-rassemblement-national-6860633

Une version de ce fil sur une page: https://typefully.com/alexandreafonso/gsUoTau

A thread on the Russian money and connections of Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National.

The contacts between the Le Pens and Russia date back a long time. The Russian partner of Le Pen father in the 1990s was Vladimir Jirinovski, a brash ultranationalist like himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMBcpA1xI9A

In 2005 Le Pen would meet with Sergei Baburin, from the ultraright (but Kremlin-aligned) Rodina party. Rodina was mostly a conduit set up by Putin and his advisers to channel nationalist support. https://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2005/06/29/jean-marie-le-pen-vante-a-moscou-l-europe-boreale_667346_3214.html

In 2011, Marine Le Pen becomes the party leader, and is eager to give the party a more mainstream profile compared to her father. You then also need more "mainstream" partners abroad. In 2011, she confesses she "admires" Vladimir Putin. https://www.lepoint.fr/presidentielle/marine-le-pen-dit-admirer-vladimir-poutine-13-10-2011-1384085_3121.php

To win French elections, you need money. Campaign funding in France works as follows: parties put in money upfront, and then get money back from the state if they reach a certain electoral threshold. But you need to find the upfront money in the first place.

After the scandal linked to the funding of Sarkozy's 2007 campaign with Gaddafi's money, French banks became more reluctant to give loans to political parties. https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/dossier/notre-dossier-l-argent-libyen-de-sarkozy

This is the case still now because of the many scandals related to the funding of political parties, and the possible image problems. You want to stay/appear neutral.  https://www.lefigaro.fr/elections/presidentielles/presidentielle-2022-des-banques-de-plus-en-plus-frileuses-vis-a-vis-des-politiques-20211201

The image issue is especially a problem for Le Pen's Front National, who says in 2014 that no French bank wants to lend them a cent. Le Pen is in touch with many banks in France and abroad, and awaiting replies. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/11/23/le-front-national-a-emprunte-de-l-argent-a-une-banque-russe_4527889_823448.html

Eventually the RN gets a 9 mio EUR loan from a Russian bank in 2014, the First Czech Russian Bank. Russian politicians were presumably involved in arranging the loan. This is the year Russia annexes Crimea. https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/first-czech-russian-bank-case-study/

In the talks around the loan, talking points were exchanged between Russian contacts and the RN on Ukraine. It looks a bit like a quid pro quo. They don't need to be pushed because their positions are close, but it is a good thing that they oppose NATO. https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/020517/la-vraie-histoire-du-financement-russe-de-le-pen

In 2017, Le Pen declares that the the Russian annexation of Crimea is not illegal. https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/fn/pour-marine-le-pen-l-annexion-russe-de-la-crimee-n-est-pas-illegale_1865383.html

In 2017, she meets with Putin in Moscow. The photo op, supposed to demonstrate that she is credible with world leaders, would make it to the 2022 presidential election leaflet (it's quite embarrassing now) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/24/putin-welcomes-le-pen-to-moscow-with-a-nudge-and-a-wink

Meanwhile, if Trump flipflops on its stance towards NATO, she stays firm in opposing it. Note that at this time her party owes money to a Russian entity. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/14/politics/le-pen-trump-nato/index.html

But in the meantime strange things had happened with the loan of the Russian bank. In 2016, the bank goes bust, documents are destroyed. https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/first-czech-russian-bank-case-study/

But the loan does not disappear; it is transferred to different entities, ending with an aviation company involved in "strategic partnerships for the Russian state, including exports to the Syrian Ministry of Defense" https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/first-czech-russian-bank-case-study/

The whole Russian side is not a tight ship either to keep things under wraps. Le Pen's party fails to repay the loan due in 2019, and is sued by Aviazapatchast, the plane parts company.
https://www.franceinter.fr/marine-le-pen-sommee-de-rembourser-les-russes-et-son-pere

In 2020, Le Pen's party and the Russian company reach an agreement on a new schedule to repay the loan by 2028, namely 322 000 € every 3 months. When the war broke out, the party still owes  money to Russia. https://www.ouest-france.fr/politique/rassemblement-national/la-justice-russe-publie-les-details-du-reechelonnement-du-pret-du-rassemblement-national-6860633

Just this February, the RN got a new loan abroad, this time with... a Hungarian Bank. https://www.rtl.fr/actu/politique/info-rtl-presidentielle-2022-marine-le-pen-a-obtenu-son-pret-de-campagne-en-hongrie-7900120461

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/alexandreafonso/x8B17Bj

A historical thread on how repression in Russia and a large flow of refugees from a.o Ukraine triggered the birth of immigration control in Britain.

For much of the the 19th century, Britain had no regulation to control immigration flows.This is a quote from Earl Granville, foreign secretary in 1872. Anyone had the "unrestricted right of entrance" into Britain.

Events in Eastern Europe would change this. In the Russian Empire, the Jewish population was only allowed to live in the so-called Pale of Settlement, which corresponds to much of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Moldova, and east-central Poland.

The Jewish population in the Pale came to represent 5 mio people, or nearly 40% of the total Jewish population in the world.

Under the reign of Emperor Alexander II (1851-1881), the rights of some Jews were expanded, and regulations for rich and/or educated jews to live outside the pale were relaxed.

Things changed dramatically for the worse in 1881, when he was assassinated. The repressive May laws passed by his successor considerably restricted the rights of Jews in the pale (regarding settlement, property), and anti-semitic violence increased. Jews were expelled from Kiyv

This triggered a wave of emigration to the West, notably to Britain. Over the space of a generation, close to 3 million Jews from that area sought shelter abroad.

As a transit point on the way to America, Britain became a significant destination for Jews from Eastern Europe. Many immigrants stayed even if their initial aim was to continue their journey. Between 1881 and 1914, around 150’000 Jews settled in Britain.

Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe would typically settle in poor neighbourhoods (e.a the East End, Stepney). Conservative MPs from East London would come to play a prominent role in pushing the issue of immigration restriction.

In 1887, an MP asked “What great states of the world other than Great Britain permit the immigration of destitute aliens without restriction", and what prevented measures that "shall put a stop to the free importation of destitute aliens into the United Kingdom”

In 1888, a select committee of the House of Commons was appointed to “inquire into the laws existing in the United States and elsewhere on the subject of the immigration of destitute aliens, and as to the extent and effect of such immigration into the United Kingdom”.

From the 1890s, renewed repression in Russia triggers more fears of large refugee flows. MPs on the right ask for a legislative base for immigration restriction.

Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe were especially accused of pushing wages down, and putting pressure on poor relief. There was little evidence of this, however.

Nevertheless, anti-immigration groups such as the British Brothers league were able to organise 4000-strong meetings in East London. People like W. Wilkins, Arnold White or Major William Evans-Gordon talk of an "Alien Invasion".

Ultimately, this climate led to the adoption of the 1905 Aliens act, the first piece of legislation empowering the Home Secretary to control immigration flows into the United Kingdom. It would be further strengthened in 1914, 1919 and many times after.

Note that Winston Churchill back then (1904) opposed such legislation. https://www.churchillbookcollector.com/pages/books/001777/winston-s-churchill/mr-winston-churchill-on-the-aliens-bill

This was the passage of my book I was working on in January, and only realised the connection with current events now.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/alexandreafonso/4I3LGLf