“I gave Mr. Durov French citizenship, who realized French, as I gave to Mr. [Evan] Spiegel, an American entrepreneur, as I gave citizenship to some athletes and artists, and I feel that is one thing that is excellent for our nation and I’ll proceed to take action,” Macron stated throughout an unrelated journey to the Serbian capital Belgrade on Thursday.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the French presidency had informed POLITICO that the decision to grant Durov citizenship had been made by the international affairs ministry. The international affairs ministry had stated it “doesn’t talk on particular person citizenship procedures.”
Official data present Durov was formally granted French citizenship in 2021. An in-depth report by Le Monde final yr highlighted the shortage of transparency surrounding the matter, with questions raised about whether or not the Telegram boss was fulfilling the required standards.
Macron additionally dismissed studies suggesting that he was planning to satisfy Durov, who was indicted Wednesday on a number of prices together with enabling felony exercise on his widespread messaging app and refusing to cooperate with legislation enforcement authorities.
“I didn’t name and was not planning on assembly with Mr. Durov, neither on the finish of final week nor within the following days,” Macron informed reporters.
Macron additionally denied that he had prior information of Durov’s plans to journey to France earlier than he was arrested at Paris’ Le Bourget airport on Saturday night time after arriving from Azerbaijan.
