Since August 2021, France has had a French citizen like no other: a new technology tycoon who collects passports like philatelists track postage stamps. Born in Russia, Pavel Durov, founder of the Telegram messaging service, is also of Christophian nationality – since May 2013 – and Emirati – since February 2021. The same year, he also obtained a French passport, benefiting from an extremely rare simplified procedure. At the time, this attribution had raised questions, leading to investigations in the press. The question is now back in the spotlight, as the person concerned was arrested on August 24 upon landing at Le Bourget airport. Questioned by the French authorities, the billionaire was under threat of a search warrant. He is accused of having allowed illicit content to proliferate on his platform – pedocriminality, drug trafficking, glorification of terrorism, to name but a few – and of not responding to legal requisitions.
On the protected file of the Official Journal announcing naturalizations, we find him between a certain “Dukuray” and a “Dutton”: “Pavel Durov, born on 10/10/1984, in Leningrad, Republic of Russia (USSR), NAT” – the abbreviation for “naturalized”. Traditionally, obtaining French citizenship through naturalization is a long procedure, which takes place in several stages. But, first of all, the person making the request must have lived in France. “Normally, a foreigner must reside in France for a legal period of five years before his naturalization, what is called the ‘training period'”, explains Fabienne Jault-Seseke, professor of private law at the University of Paris-Saclay, a specialist in immigration law.
The “emeritus foreigner” procedure
This period may be reduced under certain conditions, to two years for example, when it comes to students who have successfully completed their diploma. This is not the case for Pavel Durov. Nor does he come from a State belonging to the list of French-speaking countries recognized by the Civil Code (such as the Comoros, Congo, or Vanuatu). As noted The World In an article last year, the Telegram founder did not complete military service for France, nor does he have refugee status. He was therefore unable to obtain an internship exemption for these reasons.
Pavel Durov now holds a French passport through the “emeritus foreigner” procedure, according to information from France Inter that L’Express confirmed on Tuesday, August 27. “The government can grant an exemption from the usual procedure due to an exceptional interest presented by the person concerned,” specifies Maxime Tandonnet, lecturer in nationality law at the University of Paris-Est Créteil.
Registered in 1993 at theArticle 21-21 of the Civil Codecarried out at the initiative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, this provision allows for the naturalization of “a French-speaking foreigner who requests it and who contributes through his distinguished work to the influence of France and the prosperity of international economic relations”. The French administration website indicates that this “may be, for example, a personality or a business leader whose work in this field is recognized”. This path to naturalization is extremely rare. “It is counted in a few dozen applications per year. Of these, only a handful of people obtain French nationality”, explains a person familiar with the matter.
A rugby player and another entrepreneur in the same situation
When these naturalizations are published in the Official Journal along with those carried out via the “classic” procedure, it is impossible to distinguish one from the other. Only the registration of “department 99” can possibly indicate an application made from abroad. “But this is only an indication: in cases similar to that of Durov, no press release is made to indicate that a person has benefited from this procedure,” notes Jules Lepoutre, professor of public law at the Côte d’Azur University.
To find out, you have to go through the Official Journal. A tedious task, the number of naturalizations by decree fluctuating according to the INSEE figures between 75,000 in 2021 and 40,000 last year. However, a few rare cases are noted, such as that of the South African player Maks Van Dyk, who had asked Emmanuel Macron for French nationality in the Top 14 final in 2019 – “Banco! We’re starting the procedure”, the head of state replied to him. The same year, The Echoes revealed that the Snapchat boss had also benefited from this procedure with his son. Both speak French fluently, the first having learned it when he arrived at the club in 2016, the second having studied it at the Alliance Française in Los Angeles. This is also the case for Pavel Durov, who obtained a B1 certificate in French in 2021.
Refusal to comment on “individual decisions”
But how can we say that Spiegel and Durov, American and Russian tech giants who do not work in France and do not live there, contribute to the “influence of France”? It is difficult to answer the question, as the executive is so discreet on the subject. In the case of Spiegel, his presence with French investors and his friendship with several star French entrepreneurs, such as Xavier Niel or Alexandre Arnault, could be put forward as a hypothesis. The explanation is different for Durov: head of a platform with 900 million users worldwide, he would have obtained French nationality because of his economic weight and influence and the difficulties encountered in his country of origin, it is suggested in circles close to power. Apart from this indication, it is difficult to know more: when questioned, the Quai d’Orsay and the Ministry of the Interior – on which the directorate for integration and access to nationality depends – pass the buck, the former refusing to “comment on any individual decision”.
Pavel Durov has in any case a tumultuous history with the Russian authorities. In conflict with the authorities since the large demonstrations against the Kremlin in 2011, he left Russia two years later. The following year, Moscow tried to ban the platform in the country. And if the official end of the blocking of Telegram in 2020 is a sign for part of the Russian opposition of the rapprochement between Vladimir Putin and the entrepreneur, the latter does not seem ready to return to the country. A champion of libertarianism, Durov has settled in Dubai and seems to prefer to travel the world. With his fortune and his four passports, he has more than enough means to do so.
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