Russian Officials and Media Seize on French Unrest to Criticize Europe
After violent riots and mass protests in France over education and the cost of living, Kremlin officials and Russian state media have spoken of a European crisis. Moscow rejects claims that it was involved in the protests.
Following a weekend of violent riots in France, set against wider mass protests over education and the cost of living, Russian officials and state media have been commenting widely on events. Reactions range from open glee to more restrained schadenfreude and lecturing aimed at Moscow's Western adversary.
Kremlin and Foreign Ministry statements
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Europe faces a "major crisis" and that the disturbances are "bordering on chaos." He called it an internal matter for the countries concerned and dismissed claims of Russian involvement, saying nobody takes such accusations seriously anymore, even in Europe.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized on Sunday what she called Europe's "double standard" toward protests. She quoted French President Emmanuel Macron as promising to be "unyielding" toward violent rioters, and asked where human rights and freedom of expression fit in. On Friday she accused the French government of sending money to Ukraine instead of funding schools. Her claim that Kyiv's leadership is neo-Nazi is a debunked Kremlin talking point.
Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the unrest "The Suicidal Fall of Europe" on X and blamed migration policy. Senator Alexei Pushkov, who heads a Federation Council commission on information policy, described the situation in France as a "civil war."
State media coverage
RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan ironically commented on videos of protests in France, Italy and Albania. The newspaper Kommersant wrote that police can disperse a crowd, but convincing people that the president hears their concerns is much harder. Vedomosti quoted Arnaud Dubien, director of the Franco-Russian think tank Observo, who said unrest could recur before Macron leaves office in seven months. Political analyst Ilya Graschenkov told the TASS news agency that the protests reflect real social and economic problems.
The daily Izvestia focused on Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's announcement of a curfew in select cities.
