Questioned on TF1 and France 2, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Landings, Emmanuel Macron confirmed the arrest Thursday in Moscow of Frenchman Laurent Vinatier. The man is accused of espionage. He works for the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue based in Geneva.
“Yes, one of our compatriots was arrested in Russia (…) He works for a Swiss NGO founded by former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan and which does diplomacy” explained Emmanuel Macron.
The French president denied that the Frenchman was working for the intelligence services, “to reestablish the truth in the face of the poisonings we hear”. He also explained that the French authorities were going to provide Laurent Vinatier with all consular protections.
Russia claims, for its part, that this Frenchman – a former researcher – is suspected of having “collected information in the field of military and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation for several years”.
According to the Kremlin, he allegedly failed to comply with the obligation established by the legislation of the Russian Federation to submit to the competent authorities the documents necessary for inclusion in the register of foreign agents.
Still according to the Russian authorities, the man traveled to Russia several times, “notably to Moscow” and met Russian citizens. In the near future, “he will be charged and a preventive measure will be chosen,” they assure. The Frenchman risks up to 5 years in prison.
According to several experts, the targeting of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, an NGO based in Switzerland, is not trivial. And would even be a message to our country, which is accused of being aligned with the United States.
