Beauty and the "beast"
Russian journalist pushes French MFA spox into a corner

ANALYTICS  07 February 2023 - 13:15

Alexey Venediktov, a well-known Russian journalist and former editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow, interviewed the official representative of the French Foreign Ministry, Anne-Claire Legendre. The conversation took place on the Russian-speaking American channel RTVI, where Venediktov has been hosting the "If tomorrow comes" talk show for some time.

As befits an official representative of the Foreign Ministry in line with the latest trends, Madame Legendre is smart, sleek, and has an impeccable style. She was wearing a white blouse, a yellow jacket, black trousers, and beige Cossack boots.

Mr. Venediktov was also in his own style - a shirt over a T-shirt, jeans, and soft boots. A beard and glasses, of course. And here everything is clear: the old role - soft on the outside, hard on the inside. It is worth remembering that Venediktov belongs to the group of pro-Armenian representatives of the Russian liberal mass media; however, he has changed his rhetoric a little in recent years and tries to be objective in the Karabakh issue. This well-known journalist is certainly not a friend of Azerbaijan, which is not necessary for us, but it is nevertheless pleasant to get to know a person from a new side. By the way, there was an interesting detail: Venediktov spoke in French, which he speaks quite fluently.

They talked more about Ukraine. No, not that way, they talked only about Ukraine and around Ukraine. Venediktov's question... about Karabakh sounded more unexpected. As if feeling uneasy about its irrelevance and trying to deny its authorship, the journalist introduced it with the following words: "Please, answer me the question asked by my friend, a native Armenian living in Moscow".

If we recall that the owner of RTVI since 2019 is an American of Armenian origin, Mikayel Israelyan, the journalist's interest is not surprising. "Why has France, as he (the journalist's friend - ed.) claims, abandoned Armenia and Karabakh?", Venediktov asks the Frenchwoman. Ms. Legendre did not expect such a change of subject but was ready for it: "I do not think it is possible to talk like that. Today we are extremely concerned about the 'blockade of the Lachin corridor'...". She went on to talk about the risk of a "serious humanitarian crisis" and support for negotiations. Among other theses is the following: "You know also, and this is thanks to President Macron, that the representatives of the two countries were able to talk to each other on the sidelines of the summit last October and we decided in this framework to send a European Union mission to the Armenian border to reduce tension and ensure the respect of its borders".

Well, this is too much. Venediktov may not know such subtleties, but the representatives of the two countries and the president of the European Union, Mr. Charles Michel, were communicating well without Macron until he decided to join the process with his EU mission.

According to Legendre, the EU mission is a significant contribution by France to assist Armenia. But the Armenian side does not seem to think so. The journalist recalls this again, giving away a kind of insider: 'I have spoken to Armenian officials and I do not know why their vision differs from yours - as far as France's role is concerned, they do not see it as assistance".

It appears that the Armenian officials are complaining to a foreign journalist about French policy. Venediktov seemed unable to hold back a squeamish grimace when uttering these words.

Legendre, with barely concealed irritation, the best marker of which is a strained smile, replies: "I don't think so. I think there is support from us. It has been expressed at the highest state level...". Then she once again touched upon Macron's exceptional role...

So, the main conclusion from this "Armenian section" of the conversation is that the Armenian side considers itself abandoned, including by the EU mission, which cannot help to promote Armenian foreign policy interests in any effective way but will create problems inside the country.

But let's get back to the interview since it would have been too small to limit ourselves to a single Armenian topic, especially when covering a conversation between two such prominent personalities. The journalist continued to ask questions related to Ukrainian issues. The French diplomat continued to respond to all acute issues with vigour and competence. She proved that France had adopted a clear, uncompromising, but at the same time constructive position on the Ukrainian issue. Legendre spoke rather harshly about Russia and its policies while emphasising the role of President Macron, "who is in touch with Putin all the time". She stressed that the existence of this communication channel is very important. One could see she was happy to answer questions in the spirit of "we are for everything good against everything bad".

However, to the cunning and predatory Venediktov, it seemed not enough. The journalist asked a question about "the situation with Türkiye and Sweden, freedom of speech and burning of Quran". Legendre replied in general terms that France would welcome Sweden and Finland to join the North-Atlantic Alliance as soon as possible. Venediktov, on the other hand, finding a sore point, did not hesitate to press it: "Well I asked a question about the very fact that such things are being done to the Quran, to the holy books...".

It may seem strange, but at this point, the iron lady of French diplomacy simply broke down. She looked around helplessly, as if looking for outside support, and in a shaky voice said that "this is irrelevant to the topic of the conversation". And even quite indelicately started looking at her watch. "Can we just call it a day? We've already been talking for over twenty minutes." Anyway, your time is up," the diplomat told the journalist bluntly. Then she glanced at her watch again, turned to her assistants, and again declared that "this is not relevant to today's topic".

In other words, the person has studied to be a diplomat for a couple of decades, underwent special training before being appointed a diplomatic representative, is pumped full of various negotiation techniques, and even successfully uses these skills in her interviews, skirting contentious issues with a professional smile, only to make round eyes upon hearing the word "Quran" and skip the conversation! The editorial board is simply startled.

Venediktov perplexedly but with evident pleasure watched the victim's thrashing, but like a true gentleman did not let the conversation end in a fiasco of a lady. Like a merciful teacher allowing a student to use another chance, he asked her an additional question from another field, more precisely, again about Ukraine. A grateful Anne-Claire Legendre pulled herself together and answered confidently and cheerfully, concluding her speech with the brave, "Till final victory, as the President of the Republic said!"

Caliber.Az