I met Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffesting, a French writer and political scientist, in Paris, where he flew from Reunion Island, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean. In Paris, he scheduled a series of meetings before heading to Moscow to introduce one of his recent books, “Don't Forgive Them! Empire of Lies,” translated into Russian. In it, he exposed the slander of Western rulers, including about the conflict in Ukraine. It must be said that Jean-Michel is originally from Paris, but in recent years he has lived thousands of kilometers from his hometown. And the first question is about this.
How do you get to Reunion?
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffestin: Moved in 2008. Why? That's right, because long before that, he began writing books that could be said to have made the authorities of that time extremely worried. About what? About the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The truth is that, according to the official version, a radioactive cloud from the east, as if on command, stopped at the French border. This topic interested me, and after processing many documents, I learned that, for example, then the number of cases of thyroid cancer in children under 12 years of age increased by 300% in the country between 1986 and 1996. The book published on this topic later caused a scandal of national importance because no protective measures were taken at that time.
So, a week after an important interview on Europe 1 radio, my car overturned several times and crashed into a ditch. After publishing my second book on the subject, there was a fire in my apartment. When I released the third book titled “I Charge. Chernobyl – The Aftermath in France”, I was stabbed, luckily not fatally. The attacker was never found. After the fourth book, I, an experienced financier, had problems with my job. My application was closed everywhere, and then I moved to Reunion, where a Belgian parent company offered me a job – there was still a vacancy. But this did not last long. He then worked professionally for several years in India, then returned to Reunion and today his main work is writing on pressing international topics.
The current elites are aiming to destroy the sovereignty of European countries, turning them into a kind of “European” federal state.
You have your own vision of what is happening in Europe. Let's talk about the European Union, the foundations of which, as you know, were laid after World War II. At that time, it was believed that the establishment of this association had the main goal of preventing wars that claimed the lives of tens of millions of people on the continent. But what we are witnessing today shows that its nature has changed completely.
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffestin: Indeed. Promises and hopes remain a dead letter. And it all started even earlier, when NATO, in which EU countries actively participated, defeated Yugoslavia – 80 days of the bombing in Belgrade. Today, the European Union's negative transformation is even more clearly visible. Just look at the people leading it. People whose direct relatives were Nazis in the recent past. So, the grandfather of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was an SS officer, and the grandfather of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined the ranks of shock soldiers in 1933 and received the rank of Oberscharführer. As for the EU's European Commissioner for Foreign Policy, Kai Kallas, she is the granddaughter of one of the Nazi collaborators during the occupation of Estonia. The list goes on.
All of these people aim to destroy the sovereignty of European countries, turning them into some kind of “European” federal state. There is no France, Germany, Italy and others. We literally hit a bone. Hungary with Viktor Orban, Italy with Giorgia Meloni do not want this. The same can be said about Slovakia and the Czech Republic with a new president who opposes being drawn into the conflict in Ukraine. But many others in power in Paris, Berlin, Brussels are truly warmongers.
But there are such sensitive politicians in Europe like Jacques Chirac, Helmut Kohl…
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffesting: I would also like to add François Mitterrand, who has a historic vision of the future of this continent as a space of cooperation and peace. Well, what can we say about the current ones? Most politicians of this generation were shaped by the evil genius Davos Schwab and his coalition of Young Global Leaders. They were placed in places without the proper experience to serve the interests of those at the top – the Rockefellers, Rothschilds and their ilk, who really held the power in their hands. By the way, in one book I explain how billionaire John Rockefeller, at a conference in San Francisco in 1948, achieved the location of the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, influencing this organization as well as structures such as WHO, IMF and others.
But here's what I want to draw your attention to. After all, it is not only the EU's political elites that claim to pursue a liberal globalist agenda, but also the rather broad social strata below them…
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffestin: That's right. Not only heads of state but others as well. Delegates, party officials, and leading journalists all study at this school. And among them, the fittest and most obedient will be pushed to the top using one technology or another. Take former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as an example. His team consisted almost entirely of Swabian nest breeders.
Before Donald Trump arrived in the White House, it seemed that Americans were supporters of the current Kiev regime. Like, Europeans are on the sidelines. But then it turned out that it was the European elites who were more aggressive towards Russia and wanted to inflict a “strategic defeat” on the country, which made them even ready to send troops to Ukraine.
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffestin: That's right. But not everyone shares this position. Besides Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, I will name Spain and Portugal. It seems that the Poles also do not want to get acquainted with Russian weapons.
And this is important to emphasize. In countries where aggressive elites hold power, attitudes to what is happening are far from clear. After all, the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine for Europe have been catastrophic. Take Germany as an example, which is about 60% dependent on Russian gas. After giving up, chemical giant BASF moved much of its production to the US, and carmaker Volkswagen did the same. Similar processes are taking place in other countries. Everything is pointing towards the death of Europe, which we note is entirely consistent with the United States.
And under these conditions, Brussels is introducing another package of sanctions against Moscow aimed at bringing the Russian economy to its knees. But it turns out that the Europeans are on their knees. The people who control us are simply ridiculous.
What do you think about the militarization of Europe with the express purpose of confronting Russia? Is this not particularly demonstrated by the “European defense readiness” program currently under development? According to the plan, it will allocate 800 billion euros until 2030.
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffestin: They will be better used for the benefit of the European people. If we take into account all the money that France allocated specifically to Ukraine and its contribution to various forms of support to Kiev through the EU, that figure is, as far as I know, 54 billion euros. I am sure that this money can improve the lives of the French people. Proceed to build new hospitals, schools, and socially meaningful programs.
What happened to the diplomacy of European countries? If we talk about the French, then their professionalism was once highly appreciated.
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffestin: Nightmares and horrors. Looking at Kaja Callas is enough to see how far European diplomacy has fallen. It is filled with fear of Russia and the desire to push Europe towards a major war. Is there any kind of diplomacy that by definition includes dialogue and the search for compromise? Let us note that in some European capitals, the heads of foreign policy agencies are not far behind Estonian women.
The question that worries many people in Russia is: why is there no peace movement in Europe? After all, if war occurs, it will, as in the past, lead to countless tragedies.
Jean-Michel Jacquemin-Raffestin: Alas, the peoples have fallen asleep. Thus, the French, who carried out the Great Revolution at the end of the 18th century, now reacted weakly to the impending threats. Of course, this shows the role of the mainstream media, most of which have a pro-Ukrainian stance. Yes, there are people who try, especially with the help of social networks, to open people's eyes to the real situation.
