The two former French and German heads of government who have converted to business in Russia have no intention of abandoning their posts, unlike their Italian and Austrian counterparts.
Should European leaders converted to business in Russia resign to mark their opposition to the Russian invasion? This question currently divides the former heads of government. While some wanted to mark their opposition to Vladimir Putin’s regime by cutting off all business that ceased their ties with the country, others, on the other hand, refused to do so.
This is the case of François Fillon, Prime Minister from 2007 to 2012 and candidate for the 2017 presidential election. The former French head of government joined the board of Russian petrochemical giant Sibur last Decembernotably controlled by Leonid Mikhelson, one of the richest men in Russia, and Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of President Putin, and targeted by recent sanctions from the United Kingdom.
If he condemns the use of force in Ukraine, François Fillon has however drawn many criticisms for having deplored “the refusal of Westerners” to hear Russian claims concerning NATO.
“In 2014, I regretted the conditions of the annexation of Crimea and today I condemn the use of force in Ukraine”, affirmed on Twitter the former Prime Minister of Nicolas Sarkozy. But for ten years, I have been warning against the refusal of Westerners to take into account Russian demands on the expansion of NATO. This attitude today leads to a dangerous confrontation that could have been avoided.”
“Ally of a Dictator”
A speech highly criticized by most political parties.
LREM deputy Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the Law Commission, said on Twitter that “No, there are no buts. War is the act of whoever decides to wage it. This half-condemnation does not not honor you”.
Wednesday evening on LCI, the environmental candidate Yannick Jadot had qualified François Fillon as “ally of a dictator who is waging war in Europe”.
Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune said on Sunday that he had made himself an “accomplice” of Vladimir Putin by joining the Sibur group.
Only Valérie Pécresse among the presidential candidates did not wish to condemn the position of the former head of government. “François Fillon has left politics” and “has the right to make a living, we must leave him alone”, she commented on BFM TV this Wednesday.
In Germany too, voices have been rising for several weeks to condemn the position of a former head of government. They are the former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005) today chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, the first Russian oil group, and of the shareholders’ committee of Nord Stream 2, a controversial Russian-German gas pipeline. , suspended on Monday by Germany.
“Schröder is not the government”
The former head of the German Social Democratic Party, who notably inaugurated the first section of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2011 in the presence of Angela Merkel, but also former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and François Fillon, condemned the Russian intervention. in a message posted on LinkedIn.
“The war and the suffering it causes for the people of Ukraine must end as soon as possible. This is the responsibility of the Russian government. Much has been said in recent years about mistakes and shortcomings in relations between the West and Russia. And there were many mistakes – on both sides,” wrote Gerhard Schröder, who has become a troublesome figure in his own country due to his close ties to Vladimir Putin.
The ex-chancellor also calls on Westerners not to break the link with Russia.
“As far as the future is concerned, care must be taken that the necessary sanctions do not completely sever the political, economic and civil ties that still exist between Europe and Russia,” advises Schröder, 77, who is supposed to come into June to the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom.
A cumbersome presence for the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from the same party as Schröder.
“Gerhard Schröder does not speak on behalf of the government, he does not work for the government, he is not the government”, reminded the head of the German government during a trip to Washington on February 7th.
If all eyes are on the former German and French heads of government, it is because other former European political leaders have chosen to break with their Russian interests.
This is the case of the former Italian and Finnish Prime Ministers as well as the former Austrian Chancellor who announced that they had resigned on Thursday from the boards of directors of Russian companies on which they sat.
Matteo Renzi thus announced to the FinancialTimes that he was resigning from Delimobile, Russia’s largest car-sharing service, founded by Italian businessman Vincenzo Trani, in response to Russian military action. The former prime minister said he sent a resignation email on Thursday with immediate effect.
Ditto for Esko Aho, the former Finnish Prime Minister who left his post on Thursday at Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia for which he had worked for six years. As well as for Christian Kern, Austrian Chancellor between 2016 and 2017, who resigned from the board of directors of the Russian Railways Company (RZD) Thursday morning with immediate effect.
“The RZD is now part of Russian war logistics, Christian Kern told the Austrian newspaper The Standard. I deeply regret it. My thoughts are with the victims of this senseless assault.”
