#AntiFake

👉 We cannot ignore the way France’s Ambassador to Russia Nicolas de Rivière, so to say, 'scored an own goal', in his recent interview (with TV Rain, known in Russian as 'Dozhd' TV — a media outlet designated as a foreign agent and undesirable organisation in Russia).

While discussing Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with France Télévisions, the Ambassador ventured to utter statements which absolutely defy any objective verification:

“First of all, I would like to emphasise that we, in France, are totally committed to freedom of the press and the media. And the fact that the Russian Foreign Minister has free access to French television proves this.”

🤔 This begs the following question

If, according to Nicolas de Rivière, the ability of a media outlet to interview individuals at its discretion can serve as a benchmark for the freedom of speech, then why, following the release of Sergey Lavrov’s interview, France Télévisions was subjected to crashing criticism, if not harassment, from its liberal-minded peers not only at home, but also in other countries of the so-called collective West?

Their main message was — the Russian Foreign Minister must be denied the opportunity to speak out.

France’s former Minister for European Affairs, MEP Nathalie Loiseau, expressed her indignation at the “wrong interview.” Member of the National Assembly, Laurent Mazaury, rushed to report on France-2 to Arcom — the governmental media regulator.

It got to the point that even the so-called 'Russia experts' from the Foundation for Strategic Research, the French Institute of International Relations, and the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Cultures rushed to scream an outrageous “Shame!” to French state television, as if someone instructed them to act this way, instead of at least trying to read through Sergey Lavrov’s positional statements.

👉 They have, thus, once again confirmed the level of 'expertise' of France’s leading research centres. You can use the following links to discover several other compelling examples: 1️⃣ 2️⃣ 3️⃣ 4️⃣ 5️⃣ 6️⃣ 7️⃣ 8️⃣

The Russian media outlets and journalists, especially those sent to France with 'high democratic ideals', have fully experienced France’s would-be commitment to the principles of media freedom, pluralism and a its critical spirit, as Mr Ambassador put it. <...>

France, whose representatives are so vocal about tolerance from all points of view, in reality does not want to listen to anyone but itself and like-minded people. Paris is ready to openly violate its obligations as the host country of #UNESCO headquarters and unjustifiably refuse to issue visas to our diplomats rather than give them an opportunity to express their point of view. <...>

In view of the above, obviously, a selective approach to freedom of speech has already become a routine in France.

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Let us note another important point.

The interview of the French Ambassador is full of hackneyed Western clichés about “Russian aggression” and Ukraine as a “victim.” Nicolas de Rivière knows firsthand about France’s participation in the work of the Normandy process, which, as former President of France Francois Hollande later explained, served only as a smokescreen for the French leadership, for winning time for the Kiev regime.

This regime spent eight years killing civilians in #Donbass with impunity by taking advantage of the leniency of its Western curators.

So, by presenting Ukraine as a “victim of aggression,” the French authorities are trying to absolve themselves of responsibility for the failure of the Minsk agreements and justify, including in the eyes of their own voters, their destructive role in the hot conflict that broke out in Ukraine. <...>

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❗️ Rather than making loud and misleading statements and multiplying fakes, Paris and its representatives should have thought about the lack of freedom of speech at home.

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