It is hard to miss the symbolism of a structure that awaits you on the left bank of the Seine in Paris at the Pont d’Alma, a bridge built in the middle of the 19th Century to commemorate the Anglo-French victory over Russia in the Crimean War. The incongruent building with onion-shaped domes crowned by crosses reminds one of the gilded domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square. This is the Holy Trinity Cathedral, part of a 4,800 sq. m. complex that also contains a Russian Orthodox “spiritual centre”, a school and an exhibition centre. The Eiffel Tower rises in the background.
Small groups of people stop to look at the noticeboard, checking opening times and events. It is as if the cathedral has materialised from thin air, having not been there a year ago. But, of course, that is not what happened. “This took some eight years. It is a very complicated story,” says Polina Nedialkova-Travert, a teacher of Russian language and culture at University du Havre. The €100-million Russia-funded cathedral and complex, built where the French weather office once stood, emerged after years of political wrangling between the French and Russian governments. Discussions started in 2007 when the Patriarch of Moscow travelled to France to meet then President Nicolas Sarkozy. “The municipality of Paris didn’t approve the project,” says Ms. Nedialkova-Travert. Other designs were too classical or Spanish. “I saw the photos [of earlier designs]... they were really very strange,” she adds. The current design was conceived of by French architects Wilmotte & Associates. It took until 2010 for the land to be purchased for over €70 million and a few more years for it to be built. The complex finally opened in the autumn of 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to attend the opening but he didn’t, in the wake of bilateral diplomatic tensions over Russia’s role in Syria. Today, the complex’s exhibition centre houses a commemoration of Peter the Great, who ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725. “It is the 300th anniversary of his Paris visit,” says Valentina Kauffman, a tour guide and native of Russia. Peter was influenced by European ideas, so much so that he forced the Russian nobility to switch to European dress, and ordered men to shave their beards (or pay a beard tax). Upon his return to Russia, Peter built the Peterhof Palace near St. Petersburg. “A replica of Versailles,” Ms. Kauffman says. Three centuries may have passed since Peter came to Paris, but the presence of today’s Russian ruler is very much on people’s minds.
Hacking allegation
Last Tuesday, Tokyo-based cybersecurity company, Trend Micro, reported that it had evidence that APT28, a group of hackers linked to Russian intelligence and allegedly behind the hacking of the Democratic Party’s systems in the U.S. last year, attempted to do the same with French Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche! party. Russia has denied any involvement.
Several presidential candidates in the April 23 first round, including far-right Marine Le Pen, the mainstream right’s Francois Fillon and left’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon, have had ideological or personal ties with Russia and its leadership. On May 7, Mr. Macron, a centrist, will face Ms. Le Pen in the presidential run-off. Ms. Le Pen had made headlines when she met Mr. Putin in Moscow late last month. Mr. Macron is expected to win with 62% of the vote, according to polls, but this is by no means certain as the Brexit referendum vote and Donald Trump’s victory last year have demonstrated. Many believe this still leaves the door open for the Russians in the futur proche .
Sriram Lakshman is deputy editor with The Hindu and is covering the French presidential elections.
