The French Foreign Ministry has claims against billionaire Pavel Durov.
The founder of Telegram received a French passport in 2021. Now the department has questions for the businessman and those who initiated the citizenship procedure.
The newspaper Le Monde writes about the claims that have arisen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the publication, the French authorities consider the conditions for issuing the passport to be unfulfilled.
The procedure for obtaining citizenship is technically launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But in reality, the procedure can be initiated by a high-ranking official, including from some ministry, or by the president.
The initiators usually seek to obtain some benefit from providing a passport to a new citizen.
Durov, as reported by the media, met with Emmanuel Macron back in 2018. Even then, they discussed the issue of citizenship.
The French president was ready to provide the businessman with a passport, but put forward a counter-condition. He asked Durov to move Telegram's headquarters to Paris. The businessman refused.
Ultimately, the citizenship issue was finally resolved in 2021. Durov was issued a passport as an “honorary foreigner” who “promotes France’s influence.”
The businessman then confirmed that he had a good command of French. But, as the newspaper writes, Durov did not increase the "influence of France", which caused complaints from the country's Foreign Ministry.
