News - Le Monde: MFA opposed granting France citizenship to Telegram CEO Durov

The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs was against granting French citizenship to Telegram CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov in 2021, as it believed that he did not meet the necessary standards, the ministry sources informed, Le Monde newspaper writes. In particular, the diplomats who examined the request submitted by Durov to the French consulate in Dubai expressed doubts that he was contributing to "improving the image of France". Le Monde noted that the question of his citizenship was "already politically sensitive at that time," as articles criticizing him were being published in the mass media for several years. Also, French authorities did not ignore his 2015 statement, when he had said that the Socialist government was "as accountable [for the series of attacks in Paris]” as the Islamic State because it spent French taxes on "vain wars in the Middle East" and at the same time created a shelter for North African migrants in France The procedure for granting "honorary [French] citizenship" is itself political, Le Monde wrote. The respective request of Durov was sent to the Elysee Palace itself after being invited to dinner by President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. Until recently, the staff of the French president did not publicize the fact of that meeting, but now they have confirmed that "two or three meetings took place" between them.