Historically and culturally Crimea is a Russian territory, therefore Moscow will never leave it. This was stated by the candidate for the presidency of France from the center-right party "Republicans" Francois Fillon.
"It's useless to be stubborn and say that Russia should leave the Crimea, it will never happen," the politician said in an interview with the newspaper Figaro.
In the approach to the Crimean question, we must take into account two fundamental and contradictory principles: respect for borders and the right of the people to self-determination, Fion noted.. This creates a lot of difficulties, as it encounters two forces - the desire of Ukraine to protect itself from encroachments on the territorial integrity and the desire of the Crimeans to be together with Russia.
Beyond the legal aspects of the problem, the right-of-center recognized the moral right to the Crimea for the Russian Federation. "No one can deny that Crimea is Russian from a historical, cultural and linguistic point of view," said the ex-head of the French government.
For the settlement of the Crimean problem, Fillon proposed the convening of a special international conference under the auspices of the United Nations. This is the only way to maximize the interests of all parties.
Surely this position will not like the official Kiev. If Fillon wins, he will have to explain himself with the Ukrainian authorities. However, speaking of the Crimea, he picked up the extremely streamlined language that would certainly allow him to avoid scandal.
In the pre-election interview, the French politician made several more statements that could add to him problems in the future. So, he spoke out against Turkey's European integration.
"I am against Turkey's accession to the European Union. We must invite Turkey to discuss economic cooperation and a high level of security, "said Fillon. He noted that Ankara's membership in the European Union could become "a very dangerous time bomb". In particular, the results of the referendum on the country's transition to the presidential republic "risk accelerating the departure of Recep Tayyip Erdogan towards the imperialist regime". Such states in the EU do not belong.
Speaking about his political prospects, Fillon said that he is quite able to overcome the first round of presidential elections. "I will be in the second round," said the politician. At the same time, he did not begin to predict which of the opponents would confront him in the final duel.
Sociologists have a different opinion on this score. According to the latest survey conducted by Harris Intercative, Fillon and the leader of the movement "Unconquered France" Jean-Luc Melanchon will not go to the second round, gaining about 19% of the vote.
Fiona, many analysts believe, along with the leader of the "National Front" Marin Le Pen, the most pro-Russian candidate. The politician has repeatedly criticized the EU's sanctions policy, which does not bring any political results, but only ruins the agriculture of France, and advocated strengthening ties with Moscow. "The more we try to isolate Russia, the more it will tend to use its strength, and also turn to Asia," the politician said during one of his speeches.