The show was coming to an end. But before returning to the air, Wednesday September 2, presenter Gauthier Le Bret has an “announcement to make” to CNews viewers: “Xenia Fedorova will be able to return to the air very soon to deliver her analysis, her expertise, by video, remotely since the French government prevents her from being in France”. On half of the screen, the face of the pro-Kremlin Russian columnist is displayed at the same time. And at the bottom, this banner: "Xenia Fedorova back in 'L'Heure inter'?"
The question mark almost seems too much: a little more than a month after receiving an expulsion order from French territory and seeing her assets frozen by the Ministry of the Interior, the Russian muse of the media belonging to the ultraconservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré is therefore preparing to return to service. “It turns out that the legal services of Canal+ looked at this decision, and Xenia Fedorova is not prevented from intervening remotely, by video,” rejoices the presenter.
Contacted by franceinfo, neither CNews, nor Xenia Fedorova, nor her lawyer responded to our questions concerning the date, conditions and frequency of this return to the air. Banned from staying in France, the former director of the RT channel will therefore operate her duplexes from abroad. But from where precisely? Mystery, since its current destination is unknown. On X, on August 28, she denied information from Le Monde which claimed that she had recently passed through Italy and Turkey. “I did not discuss my location with the management of CNews,” she wrote.
“There is no criminal offense”
Several questions arise: is the channel committing an offense by bringing in someone subject to an expulsion order? “Absolutely not,” replies Serge Slama, lawyer and professor of public law at Grenoble Alpes University. “An expulsion order does not imply deprivation of freedom of expression. States do not have the right to prohibit the speech of people from abroad.”
“With modern means of communication, words have no boundaries. This is the limit of expulsion orders.”
Serge Slama, lawyer
at franceinfo
“If CNews begins to permanently broadcast its point of view without criticism and without compensation, Arcom could intervene. But as long as no red line is crossed, there is no criminal offense,” continues the specialist. “It will be interesting to watch how it will be presented on the air,” adds another lawyer.
The ministerial order, which Xenia Fedorova was given on July 29, refers to “behavior” which “undermines the fundamental interests of the state”. The document considers that its presence on French territory “consists of this reason a particularly serious and current threat to public order”. “By deploying her narratives”, the columnist “acts as a relay for the disinformation campaigns piloted by the Russian authorities”, with the aim of “destabilizing public order” in France.
As for the order concerning the freezing of his assets, it prevents "the making available, directly or indirectly, of funds or economic resources for the benefit of this person and legal entities or any other entities that he controls, holds or which knowingly act on his behalf". Concretely, “she cannot be paid by the Bolloré media for her columns”, adds Serge Slama. The forty-year-old has already filed two appeals before the French courts, both of which were rejected.
“The Bolloré group media will have to answer for their legal obligations”
This return in any case makes the boss of Renew Europe MEPs, Valérie Hayer, jump. “The media of the Bolloré group of which CNews is a part will have to answer for their legal obligations in terms of honesty, rigor, perspective and pluralism, she reacts to franceinfo. Beyond the person of Ms. Fedorova, there is the broader question of Russian influence in Europe and its attempts to interfere in our democratic processes. Of the hybrid war that it is waging against us.” In mid-May, the elected official contacted Arcom after statements deemed pro-Russian "propagandist" made by the person concerned on CNews and Europe 1.
“As major elections for our country approach and the Kremlin tests the resilience of the European Union states through various operations, we must change gear.”
Valérie Hayer, head of Renew MEPs
at franceinfo
“The case of Xenia Fedorova illustrates the threat of interference that we face,” recalled in Le Monde the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, who repeatedly described the Russian national as a “certified propagandist who serves as a relay for disinformation from the Kremlin”.
“His papers arrive at the last minute via secure messaging”
The Diderot Committee, which fights against Russian disinformation in the context of the war in Ukraine, sees it rather as a defeat. This announced return "shows the limits of the government's option to resort to expulsion", this group of international experts told franceinfo. “The option of having Xenia Fedorova included on the European lists of sanctioned propagandists, which had been proposed by the European Parliament and which we had supported, would have involved a ban on the provision of economic resources by French companies.”
Since she left France in July, Xenia Fedorova has never stopped collaborating with the Bolloré group media. She continues to publish her columns in JDNews and JDD, always with the same angle of attack: France. “Mr. Barrot, where is the interference?” she asked on August 23. “A worrying story,” she testified on August 12, a few days after being targeted by the expulsion order. We also notice republications of old chronicles.
“Her papers always arrive at the last minute via secure messaging,” confides a source within the group. “No one knows what subjects she will cover. Papers are removed at the last minute to make room for her.” It now remains to be seen when she will reappear on the air in "L'Heure inter", the next broadcast of which is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m.
