Israel/Palestinian Territories (Feb. 27, 2024)

France strongly denounces the unacceptable remarks by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling for the approval of plans to build 3,300 new housing units in several West Bank settlements.

France reiterates its condemnation of the settlement policy, which is illegal under international law, and once again calls on the Israeli authorities to refrain from any new project to create or expand settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

As France emphasized during its oral statement delivered on February 21 before the International Court of Justice in the course of public hearings on the Legal Consequences arising from Israel’s Policies and Practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, settlement activity is contrary to international law and must cease.

Continued settlement activity is incompatible with the establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. In addition to being a major obstacle to a lasting peace, this policy is also the source of violence and tensions on the ground.

Russia
France utterly condemns Oleg Orlov’s 2 ½-year prison sentence (Feb. 27, 2024)

France utterly condemns the two-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed down against human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov, co-founder of the Memorial organization, for criticizing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This sentence is outrageous and deeply unjust.

Oleg Orlov was clearly the victim of judicial harassment during his trial, which was described by Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, as a “travesty of justice.”

France applauds the role played by Memorial in its fight for human rights and to preserve the memory of the crimes committed in Russia since the Soviet era.

France calls on Russia to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners, and particularly Vladimir Kara-Murza, whose deteriorating health is a serious cause for concern. We salute the bravery of the women and men who, like Oleg Orlov and the sociologist and dissident Boris Kagarlitsky, who was sentenced to five years in prison without parole, defend the freedom of speech and opinion despite the risk.

Q&A

President Macron alluded to dangers facing Moldova. The Russian threats are real. Might French troops stationed in Romania be transferred to Moldova as a preventive measure?

Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine in February 2022, the French armed forces have helped enhance NATO’s deterrence and defense posture on Europe’s eastern front by mobilizing nearly 2,000 French troops to face the threats posed by Russia. France is the lead nation of Mission Aigle deployed in Romania and serves in Estonia under Mission Lynx. France also contributes to NATO Baltic Air Policing missions aimed at guaranteeing the integrity of the airspace over Central Europe.

We also support the Moldovan authorities, who are facing increasingly aggressive destabilization attempts by Russia.