Putin divides the right and left French (pic)

 "Poutinolâtres", "poutinophobes" Russophile or realistic: the party leaders are divided vis-à-vis the strong man of the Kremlin. Between those who are wary of him, those who want to maintain dialogue with Russia, and those who devote themselves to the admiration Russian head of state.

Adored by some, hated by others: in France, the name of Putin leaves no one indifferent. Yet it would be too simple to divide his admirers and his opponents in the traditional left-right divide. Appreciated by a part of the right to his authoritarianism and his fight against radical Islam, the Russian leader is also appreciated, left, for its anti-Americanism.

• "poutinolâtres" right
The face of authority, iron fist, fight against Islam: FIG Putin is appealing the proponents of a hard right. The National Front does not hide his sympathy for the Kremlin leader. "I do not hide that, to some extent, I admire Putin" had thus said Marine Le Pen in 2011 in Moscow daily Kommersant . Marion Maréchal-Le Pen participates it, the Franco-Russian Friendship Group of the Assembly. Alleging the refusal of French banks to finance the party has used Russian loans, and therefore actively cultivates its networks.

Putin but also enjoys solid support within the traditional right. In the Republican primary, François Fillon is distinguished from its competitors by its constant commitment to resume dialogue with Russia. A Russian tropism its long-standing and which is based, he said, with his Gaullist desire to establish a "Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals." Members Thierry Mariani Nicolas D'or Huicq, both - and this is not a hasard- support of Fillon, have made themselves noticed by traveling to the Crimea for two consecutive years after the annexation of the peninsula by Russia .

As for Nicolas Sarkozy, once more critical of the Kremlin's policy, has made access to Russophilia since his return to the political scene. He met Putin in Moscow in October 2015, which had deeply annoyed the Socialist majority.

• "poutino skeptics" on the right:
Alain Juppé himself is much more skeptical about the virtues of the Russian model. In April 2015, he denounced "an acute Russophilia of access" to the UMP. "Russia is a great country" but "at some point, do not hesitate to tell Putin: stop. We do not annex its neighbors, "he said, while maintaining that he was not" anti-Russian. "

Hervé Mariton who himself is very Russophile (it is one of the few parliamentarians to speak Russian fluently) is however very challenging to the "poutinophilie" of his Republican colleagues. "The Putin veneration among Republicans dismays me," he said for example JDD , deploring "anti-Atlanticist evolution, anti-American, anti-Western, anti-free trade, anti-European" of a fringe his party. It supports notoriously Mikhail Khodorkovsky , the oligarch became a fierce opponent of Putin.

• "poutinophobes" left
Many personalities from left to engage with virulence against the Russian president. François Hollande in the lead, who wants to show his "firmness" against Moscow. position shared by all or most of the Socialists, whose leader Jean-Christophe Cambadélis does not hesitate to regularly denounce the "poutinisation" the right. "There is a form of fascination of the French right to the authoritarian regime of Putin," denounced the leader of Deputies PS Bruno Le Roux during Sarkozy's visit.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon clashes left by his defense of the Russian president. Last February, the chairman of the Left Front had congratulated on his blog the Russians for their commitment against Daech. Today after the cancellation of Putin's visit, he tweeted: "Hollande refuses to accept Putin after inviting personal mail! That's the diplomacy of France? Pathetic."

He also slammed the "anti-Russian propaganda from the murder Nemstov", calling the opponent, killed in mysterious circumstances in Moscow , the "cacique Yeltsin" on his blog. He had denounced the attempt to "sadamisation" Putin . This repeated sympathy is not without annoy his former environmentalist allies. "Aleppo is massacred. Who in this country supports Putin? This is Le Pen and Mélenchon, "had thundered Yannick Jadot of Europe Ecology-Greens. "Our family policy aims to combat the vision of the great French media that oppose the" nice Ukrainians "to" bad Russians "," thought for his part Clémentine Autain. The Communist Party is, he repeatedly spoke out against economic sanctions against Russia.

What springs from this Putinism left? To Mediapart, which was roundly scolded Mélenchon , it is a "fascination for strength, effectiveness, forceful occupation of power." This sympathy for the Kremlin is not only the legacy of the "Moscow of the eye", it reflects a real ideological convergence, that of hostility to US hegemony in international relations.

Further to the left, such as former Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine or Chevènement denounce, on behalf of a form of political realism, the "caricature" vision that is made of Vladimir Putin and defend a balanced view of international relationships.

This cleavage not only through politics but also intellectuals. As a fringe anti-totalitarian philosophers (Bernard Henri Lévy, Alain Finkielkraut, André Glucksmann fire) is very hostile to Putin's authoritarianism, other thinkers traditionally classified left, as Regis Debray or Michel Onfray themselves up against the demonization of the Russian president.