French lawmakers coming to Russia to pay a visit to the Crimea

Stratford57

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A delegation of French lawmakers is coming to Russia to pay a visit to the Crimea – the first such visit since the region’s accession to the Russian Federation in March 2014.

The head of the mission, MP Thierry Mariani said in an interview with Russian business daily Kommersant that it will consist of nine members of the French National Assembly and one senator. Eight members of the delegation represented the center-left “The Republicans” party, led by Nicolas Sarkozy and two more represented centrists and leftists.

The French politician told RT in a telephone interview that he and his colleagues will arrive in Moscow on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, they will meet State Duma speaker Sergey Naryshkin and after the meeting will travel to the Crimean towns of Sevastopol and Yalta. The lawmakers plan to meet the head of the Crimean government Sergey Aksyonov and Sevastopol Governor Sergey Menyailo, and with ordinary citizens. In addition, the politicians plan to visit the French cultural center in Sevastopol and the French memorial cemetery that dates back to the Crimean war of 1854-55.

Mariani told Russian reporters the mission consisted of two types of lawmakers – some wanted to assess the situation on the Crimean peninsula after personally witnessing it and others – like himself – already recognized the reunification of Crimea and Russia as a historical fact, confirmed by a valid referendum.

On Wednesday afternoon, Thierry Mariani told RT he had had a heated discussion with the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius who very strongly opposed the idea of French lawmakers visiting Crimea. However, the French MPs told the minister that they were free to travel anywhere they wanted and refused to cancel the trip, he said. Mariani also told RT his delegation didn’t share the anti-Russian sentiments of French officials and that the visit was going to happen.

French MPs to make historical visit to reunited Crimea RT Russian politics

There are no grounds to keep Russia sanctions in place, said member of the French National Assembly Thierry Mariani, who heads the parliamentary delegation currently on a two-day visit to Crimea.

The Crimean status referendum held on March 16, 2014 made it possible for the Crimean peninsula to avoid the scenario unfolding in eastern Ukraine, he said.

Mariani noted that he “observed the devastation and the people’s suffering with horror”while he was visiting war-torn Donbass two months ago.

“We congratulate you that you managed to avoid that,”he said at a meeting with Crimea’s Parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov. “We welcome the courage of the Crimean Parliament because it was able to make this decision despite the difficult situation and a great risk of escalation [of tensions],”he added.

He reiterated that the visit of the French delegation aims to understand the situation in Crimea. He added that his first impression was great weather and no military personnel on the streets.

"The outcome of the referendum was a reaction of the whole Crimean community to the events in Ukraine," he said.

"Ukraine was like a boiling pot and the people were frightened of the situation in Kiev. After the funerals of people killed in Kiev, a wave of spontaneous protests swept through Crimea…The task set before the parliament was not to let the protests grow into unconstrained actions. A civil war seemed to be the main threat those days."

No grounds to keep Russia sanctions in place French MPs visiting Crimea RT News
 
Below I'm posting the update from today, July, 24.

A group of French lawmakers on a visit to Crimea said they had seen the local population living in peace and dismissed claims of any kind of Russian "occupation" of the Black Sea peninsula.


"You always have to come to a place and see what is happening. During these two days, we have seen that there is no occupation, people are free. We have seen that it is a peaceful region, people live in peace."

No Occupation French Lawmakers Confirm Crimean Residents Live in Peace Sputnik International

Both the French and Ukrainian governments have condemned the decision, considering it a breach of international law.

"We saw happy people here who live in Crimea and have returned to Russia. We talked to young people. It’s a very different picture from what is shown in our countries. I saw such a warm welcome here. We had a completely different idea about Crimea [before the visit]," one of the 10 lawmakers told journalists after talking to residents of the Crimean city of Yalta.

French Lawmakers Surprised by Happy Citizens in Crimea s Yalta Sputnik International

“As the US is lifting Cuba blockades, I see no reasons for Europe to keep Russia sanctions in place,”Mariani told reporters after speaking at the Crimean Parliament in Simferopol on Thursday. He added that he felt the effect of sanctions as the delegation’s mobile phones stopped operating because European companies refuse to provide service in the area.

“I’m very happy to be here,”he told the Crimean lawmakers in Russian adding that the visit of the delegation caused an uproar in France.

He said the current visit proves the freedom and independence of the French lawmakers. “Regardless of our political orientation, we adhere to the views of Charles de Gaulle, who believed that above all is the will of the people.”

Yves Pozzo di Borgo, a member of the Senate from the Centrist Union, representing the city of Paris, was quick to recognize that the reality on the ground in Crimea does not reflect the media or political narrative in Europe.

“I am very happy that I came here, because listening to you [residents of Crimea], I understand the position, which is not expressed anywhere – in any of the media in Europe, in none of the Parliaments of Europe, nor in the European Parliament or the Council of Europe, nor the OSCE,”di Borgo said.

Konstantinov, in turn, thanked the French delegation for making "a courageous political step"by visiting Crimea. He said that he is“proud”of the fact that the referendum was made possible and that the“lawmakers stood up for protection of their people for the first time for many years."

He added that during those days the Crimean residents"lived through turmoil."

On Thursday Mariani told Rossiya'24 news channel that the public opinion in France is gradually shifting in Russia's favor.

"The public opinion in France is changing step by step," Mariani said."We've had that story involving the Mistrals and many people in France think it is simply stupid, as a commodity that was promised was not delivered eventually and the contract was disrupted."

"I think public opinion is making a gradual evolution,"he concluded. "I hope our trip to Russia will speed up this evolution, as the French government will have to give a bigger measure of attention to this opinion at a certain point."

No grounds to keep Russia sanctions in place French MPs visiting Crimea RT News

A visit to a French military cemetery [the biggest cemetery of French soldiers abroad] was included into their agenda too. Official Kiev kept misinforming the world about bad condition of the cemetery and possible plans of destroying it. The lawmakers could see with their own eyes: the Memorial was in an ideal condition. They told the press later, what a huge difference was between the way Western Media reported about the situation in Crimea and reality.

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Did the French meet with any of the actual Crimean's, Tatar's, who have been arrested and imprisoned by the Russian occupation forces, or have all the traditional Crimean citizens willing to speak out already been shipped off to the Siberian camps and prisons to what is left of their ancestors that were shipped there in the old days of Russian colonization? Maybe the Russians killed all those old timers they deported from their own country years ago with all the others they put into those death camps.
Hopefully the Russians will keep some of the Tatars alive. Maybe put them in a zoo so folks in the future can see what the original Crimean's looked like.
 
Crimean Tatars invited French lawmakers for their official National Congress in Simferopol for Sat, July 25.

Tatars in Crimea were a problem since the USSR has collapsed. Ukraine did not pay any attention to it.

I’m personally very happy that European delegation has come to Crimea to see what’s going on there with their own eyes and confirmed: Western Media was lying about situation in Crimea for more than a year. I hope with the help of those Frenchmen the Western world will eventually stop trusting Western Media and look for alternative news (not fairly tales) sources.

“What we want to say is that the majority of people we have met, various contacts, seemed happy to be back in Russia,”he said at the press conference organized by TASS.

“Crimea is an absolutely peaceful region,”said French MP Claude Goasguen. The people in Crimea cannot be criticized for the fact that the referendum brought peace to them, he added.


Most Crimeans happy to be back in Russia head of French delegation to peninsula RT News

Anti-Obama Shirts And Scenic Snapshots French Lawmakers Spark Uproar With Crimea Visit

TASS Russia - French lawmakers say Crimea s return to Russia legitimate


One of the French parliamentarians visiting Crimea has spoken his mind through fashion. Senator Yves Pozzo di Borgo from the center-right UDI party has acquired a T-shirt with Putin and Obama portraits, the caption saying: “Obama, you're a schmuck.”

CKoC2reUcAEMlSX.jpg
 
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Hopefully the Russians will keep some of the Tatars alive. Maybe put them in a zoo so folks in the future can see what the original Crimean's looked like.

You're welcome to a Republic of Tatarstan (the federal subject of Russia and place, where Tatars living) to repeat your words loudly at the central square of Tatarstan Capital :)
 
I always believed: sooner or later it would happen, Europeans would come to Crimea, see everything with their own eyes and tell the rest of the world how badly Western Media was lying. During their visit to Crimea the Frenchmen were walking in the streets, talking to whoever they wanted and whenever they wanted. After the visit they promised to share their impression with the EU.

Kiev to Ban French Lawmakers from Entering Ukraine for Visiting Crimea Sputnik International
TASS World - French lawmaker compares Crimea to southern France where everything is normal

Same thing happened in 2008 after Georgia started shelling South Ossetia, when all Western news were yelling: “Big Russia attacked little Georgia!” and showing the horrible pictures and videos. The trick was: those pictures and videos were real, but they were taken in Ossetia (not Georgia!) and were showing what Georgians were doing to Ossetians (not what Russians were doing to Georgians, as presented by Western Media). In a few months after the war was over some European leaders ( Kachinsky, Sarkozy and many others) have visited both Georgia and South Ossetia and had to admit: it was Georgia, who attacked Ossetia, not Russia!



Now, several years after Georgian war, Saakashvili, the ex-president of Georgia, who was living in the USA, was not allowed to extend his visa to stay in the USA. And he is wanted in Georgia for a number of crimes he has committed as president there. So, he’s got a shelter in Ukraine and Ukrainian president made him a governor of Odessa oblast (SE Ukraine). He dropped his Georgian citizenship, became a Ukrainian citizen, however refused to learn Ukrainian language and speaks only Russian language (the language of the country Kiev Junta is trying to make everybody hate!). Also in one of his interview he openly said: US State Department will pay me for being a governor of Odessa.

Recently Saakashvili has counted that “even if Ukrainian economy stops dropping, and Ukraine starts increasing its growth 4% every year, we’ll reach 2013 level only in 20 years.” However Ukrainian economy keeps going down every day and Kiev Junta is doing its best for that.

20 - YouTube (in Russian)

All that looks like the “Santa Barbara” soap opera and would be pretty funny if it were not so sad…
 
The trip means nothing. It is a propaganda gimmick. The only ones fooled are suckers who believe it is being taken seriously by anyone but the idiots who don't know it is a propaganda gimmick. The real news not being told to the brainwashed fools is that China is buying huge amount of agriculture products from Ukraine. In other words, China is opening it's market in a new and substantial way to Ukraine while it makes deals with central Asian countries to build pipelines to reduce the quantity of Russian oil it will be importing in the future.
 
The trip means nothing. It is a propaganda gimmick. The only ones fooled are suckers who believe it is being taken seriously by anyone but the idiots who don't know it is a propaganda gimmick. The real news not being told to the brainwashed fools is that China is buying huge amount of agriculture products from Ukraine. In other words, China is opening it's market in a new and substantial way to Ukraine while it makes deals with central Asian countries to build pipelines to reduce the quantity of Russian oil it will be importing in the future.

So, you afraid visit of Tatarstan? Chicken?
 
The trip means nothing. It is a propaganda gimmick. The only ones fooled are suckers who believe it is being taken seriously by anyone but the idiots who don't know it is a propaganda gimmick. The real news not being told to the brainwashed fools is that China is buying huge amount of agriculture products from Ukraine. In other words, China is opening it's market in a new and substantial way to Ukraine while it makes deals with central Asian countries to build pipelines to reduce the quantity of Russian oil it will be importing in the future.

So, you afraid visit of Tatarstan? Chicken?
Why would I want to visit that place? Isn't it just another little colony that wanted to be independent from Russia, but refused independence and forced into the Federation? Do they still force citizens to speak Russian instead of their native language in that little colony?
 
The trip means nothing. It is a propaganda gimmick. The only ones fooled are suckers who believe it is being taken seriously by anyone but the idiots who don't know it is a propaganda gimmick. The real news not being told to the brainwashed fools is that China is buying huge amount of agriculture products from Ukraine. In other words, China is opening it's market in a new and substantial way to Ukraine while it makes deals with central Asian countries to build pipelines to reduce the quantity of Russian oil it will be importing in the future.

So, you afraid visit of Tatarstan? Chicken?
Why would I want to visit that place? Isn't it just another little colony that wanted to be independent from Russia, but refused independence and forced into the Federation? Do they still force citizens to speak Russian instead of their native language in that little colony?

To say this words about tatar. About "little colony", "needs of independence" and "rejection of native language" in this "small colony" with about 2 million ethnic Tatars and 1.5 million ethnic Russians... With Innopolis ( ) as one of federal center of IT development...

One small advice - if you want to lie, at least check the Wiki before it :)
 
The trip means nothing. It is a propaganda gimmick. The only ones fooled are suckers who believe it is being taken seriously by anyone but the idiots who don't know it is a propaganda gimmick. The real news not being told to the brainwashed fools is that China is buying huge amount of agriculture products from Ukraine. In other words, China is opening it's market in a new and substantial way to Ukraine while it makes deals with central Asian countries to build pipelines to reduce the quantity of Russian oil it will be importing in the future.

We'll see.. Camp, let's face it: you are a hopeless case. Are you familiar with a Middle East saying: "A dog is barking, but caravan keeps moving on"?
 
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The trip means nothing. It is a propaganda gimmick. The only ones fooled are suckers who believe it is being taken seriously by anyone but the idiots who don't know it is a propaganda gimmick. The real news not being told to the brainwashed fools is that China is buying huge amount of agriculture products from Ukraine. In other words, China is opening it's market in a new and substantial way to Ukraine while it makes deals with central Asian countries to build pipelines to reduce the quantity of Russian oil it will be importing in the future.

We'll see.. Camp, let's face it: you are a hopeless case. Are you familiar with a Middle East saying: "A dog is barking, but caravan keeps going on"?
Ha ha, you are describing yourself. You don't even have a bark. Are you even allowed to have global access of internet where you live? Maybe you are in some part of Russian controlled area where some sites are blocked.
 
This time, you’re right, Camp, you’ve made a progress, congratulations!

It’s super dangerous to bark in Ukraine, unless you’re barking to support Kiev Junta. Hundreds of people with "incorrect point of view" have already disappeared, thrown into prison or simply killed.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, at least 8 journalists have been killed in shelling in the east. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has collected information about at least 78 journalists who have been captured and held by armed groups. Some have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Although such incidents have become less frequent and less violent than in 2014, new cases are still reported. The initial struggle by the armed groups for control of the media outlets earlier this year resulted in seizure of editorial offices and TV towers, obstruction of lawful activity of journalists, intimidation and threats to media professionals by armed groups, some of which persist until now. At this time, eastern Ukraine remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for media professionals.

At the same time, let us not forget the case of the Oles Buzyna, a Ukrainian journalist, known for his criticism of the Government, in particular in relation to the Maidan events and the conflict in the east who was shot dead near his home on 16 April, by unknown gunmen. This is a case that casts many doubts on the true motivation of the killer and the longer the accountability process is delayed, the further these doubts are reinforced.

Statement by Ivan imonovi Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights at the Conference on Journalists Safety Media Freedom and Pluralism in Times of Conflict Vienna 15 June 2015

Ukraine remains the most dangerous destination for journalists reporting from conflict zones, UN Assis tant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said June,15.

Simonovic noted that media workers in Ukraine are endangered not only in the zone of armed conflict between government forces and independence supporters, citing the recent murder of opposition journalist Oles Buzina.

The UN official stressed that Buzina was a critic of the current Ukrainian government adding that it is still unclear who is responsible for his murder.

Buzina, 45, was shot dead in April in Kiev by two masked gunmen. His murder was preceded by the killings of two other opposition figures, Serhiy Suhobok and Oleh Kalashnikov, also known for their criticism of current Ukrainian leadership.

During the conflict in southeastern Ukraine, which began in April 2014, dozens of journalists have been killed, injured or come under fire.

Ukraine Remains Most Dangerous Place for Reporters - UN Sputnik International

1. Oleg Kalashnikov, a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from the Party of Regions, was shot at the entrance of his house.

2. Alex Kolesnik, former governor of the Kharkiv region, found hanged.

3. Stanislav Miller, a former MP from the Party of Regions, a possible suicide.

4. Sergei Walter, a former mayor of Melitopol, found hanged.

5. Bordyug Alexander, deputy chief of the Interior Ministry of Melitopol, the official reason - died of hypertension.

6. Peklyushenko Alexander, a former governor of Zaporizhzhya region, died from a gunshot wound.

7. Mikhail Chechetov, the former head of the State Property Fund, chairman of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada, out of the window.

8. Sergey Melnichuk, a former prosecutor of Odessa, jumped out the window.

9. Nikolai Sergienko, a former deputy chief of the Ukrainian railways, allegedly shot himself.

10. Oles Buzina, a pro-Russian journalist and writer, was killed near his home.

Google Translate
upload_2015-7-27_10-22-44.png

Translation^: Who else they are preparing to murder?

Junta throws into the prison even the people who are handicapped (like Oleg Novikov, who lost his leg in Afghanistan) just for wearing the Georgian ribbon (a symbol of the victory over German Nazis):
upload_2015-7-27_10-23-4.png
 
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Did the French meet with any of the actual Crimean's, Tatar's, who have been arrested and imprisoned by the Russian occupation forces, or have all the traditional Crimean citizens willing to speak out already been shipped off to the Siberian camps and prisons to what is left of their ancestors that were shipped there in the old days of Russian colonization? Maybe the Russians killed all those old timers they deported from their own country years ago with all the others they put into those death camps.
Hopefully the Russians will keep some of the Tatars alive. Maybe put them in a zoo so folks in the future can see what the original Crimean's looked like.

After Crimea (3 million people) reunited with Russia they established 3 official languages there: Russian, Ukrainian and Tatar (before there was only one official language: Ukrainian). Let's compare this with Ukraine (40 million people), where half a country is Russian speaking, but the only official language is Ukrainian.

So, where do you see more freedom and democracy?

upload_2015-7-28_9-18-8-png.45873
 
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This is great news. I was just reading about this in the NYT. They are of course downplaying the delegations findings but they did at least report on it.

"The visit began on Thursday and included stops in several cities, like Yalta, Simferopol and Sevastopol. The aim, according to an interview with Mr. Mariani in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, was to “understand how the people live.” Mr. Mariani said he supported the annexation of Crimea but that some of the lawmakers and wanted to see the situation for themselves.

“We saw happy people,” said Marie-Christine Dalloz, one of the lawmakers, according to a translation in Ria-Novosti, a Russian news service. “We talked to young people. The picture is surprisingly different than the one we were shown,” she said.

Iosif Kobzon, told the Interfax news agency that he serenaded the delegation with a song about the friendship between Soviet and French pilots in World War II. Mr. Kobzon, Russia’s Frank Sinatra and also a lawmaker, said he had many friends among French singers, including Mireille Mathieu and Charles Aznavour. “These are my friends, and no sanctions are going to change that,” he said to Interfax."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/world/europe/france-lawmakers-visit-crimea-russia.html?_r=0
 
This is great news. I was just reading about this in the NYT. They are of course downplaying the delegations findings but they did at least report on it.

Paris,July 26. /TASS/. Crimea has always been a Russian land ever since it ceased to be part of the Ottoman Empire and Europe’s unwillingness to admit this fact and its anti-Russian sanctions is a path to nowhere, French lawmaker Jacques Myard, who visited Crimea with a delegation of other French lawmakers earlier this week, told the France 24 television channel on Sunday.

Speaking with the host, Myard asked her to refrain from the use of the term ‘annexation’ in respect of the recent development in Crimea. "It is a kind of return to a natural course of history, since Crimea has always belonged to Russia," he said. "I think we must face up to reality. There is no bigger mistake in foreign politics that denial of the reality, and our Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius keeps on saying we are going to plunge into no wars over Crimea. So, time is coming when we must emerge from the state of deception and begin reckon with reality."

TASS World - Crimea has always belonged to Russia French lawmaker

And let’s see, how official Kiev was all in panic about the truth slowly but surely coming out and exposing its propaganda. When the Western world realizes the truth about Kiev Junta and Ukrainian reality, it will be a huge threat for the Junta existence. So, the visit of French lawmakers to Crimea and their will to tell everybody about it may be the beginning of the end of Kiev Junta.

KIEV, July 28. /TASS/.The French parliamentarians who visited Crimea last week are facing an eight-year prison term, confiscation of vehicles and prohibition to hold certain positions, member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Georgy Logvinsky wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

According to Logvinsky, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has begun an audit against the French delegation that had visited Crimea.

“These French citizens are facing a prison term from 5 to 8 years. An audit has begun following my petition to the Prosecutor-General’s Office of Ukraine.”

“All members of the French delegation – they will all be brought to account. Today or tomorrow – this is just a matter of time. The response will be adequate, believe me,” the Ukrainian lawmaker wrote.

Ukrainian MP threatens French lawmakers with jail after their visit to Crimea Veterans Today

I bet the French lawmakers are scared to death after such kind of threat.
 
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Ukrainian/Western anti-Russian propaganda has been based on 3 alleged accusations:

1. Annexation of Crimea;

2. Presence of Russian regular troops in SE Ukraine (no adequate proof has been presented);

3. Downing of Malaysian Boeing more than a year ago (no adequate proof of anybody’s fault has been presented).

As soon as the Western world figures out all above has been lies, all anti-Russian propaganda will collapse as a house of cards and it will be “Game over” for Kiev Junta. As we can see, 'Accusation N 1' is about to fade away, that’s why official Kiev was so mad about French lawmakers’ visit to Crimea.
 
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"The visit began on Thursday and included stops in several cities, like Yalta, Simferopol and Sevastopol. The aim, according to an interview with Mr. Mariani in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, was to “understand how the people live.” Mr. Mariani said he supported the annexation of Crimea but that some of the lawmakers and wanted to see the situation for themselves.

Hi, tinydancer. Nice to meet you again.
One Russian patriot has told me recently that the Kommersant is ‘news for morons’.
Here is a link:
Putin It s Enough Page 17 US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum

You know that Russian patriots are very honest guys and therefore I don’t have any reason not to trust them. So, avoid please reading any news from Kommersant as well as that news which cite the Kommersant. All that information is supposed to be for morons. Don’t let them fool yourself!
 
"The visit began on Thursday and included stops in several cities, like Yalta, Simferopol and Sevastopol. The aim, according to an interview with Mr. Mariani in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, was to “understand how the people live.” Mr. Mariani said he supported the annexation of Crimea but that some of the lawmakers and wanted to see the situation for themselves.

Hi, tinydancer. Nice to meet you again.
One Russian patriot has told me recently that the Kommersant is ‘news for morons’.
Here is a link:
Putin It s Enough Page 17 US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum

You know that Russian patriots are very honest guys and therefore I don’t have any reason not to trust them. So, avoid please reading any news from Kommersant as well as that news which cite the Kommersant. All that information is supposed to be for morons. Don’t let them fool yourself!

Esay, if you don’t like “Commersant”, here is New York Times article for you:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/world/europe/france-lawmakers-visit-crimea-russia.html?_r=0
and some others:

French Lawmakers Crimea s Return to Russia Legitimate World Affairs Journal
Anti-Obama Shirts And Scenic Snapshots French Lawmakers Spark Uproar With Crimea Visit

Meanwhile, an Italian delegation will visit Crimea, parliamentarian Manlio de Stefano confirmed to Sputnik on Wednesday.

"Anyway I can confirm our visit," de Stefano, a member of the Five Star Movement party, told Sputnik.

Italian Lawmaker Confirms Delegation Visit to Crimea Sputnik International

During their trip to Crimea, the first by a European delegation since the peninsula's unrecognized annexation by Russia in March 2014, the parliamentarians hailed the Russian takeover and berated French authorities for endorsing EU trade sanctions slapped on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

The French Foreign Ministry denounced the visit as "a violation of international law."

According to the French press, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius attempted to cancel the trip until the last minute while Senate president Gerard Larcher unsuccessfully tried to persuade lawmakers not to board the plane to Moscow.

"Criticism is coming from people who don't know history and who have only a short-term vision," insists Nicolas Dhuicq, a member of the delegation. "Signing business contracts with Russia is in France's interest, so these critics are actually not serving France's interests. We are the ones serving them, by reviving the friendship with Russia."

Crimea Visit Spotlights Kremlin Sympathies Beyond French Fringes
 
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