US embassy cable - 05PARIS3115

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003115 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; 
EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA 
FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR 
AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; 
ROME/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - WWII COMMEMORATIONS - 
PRESIDENT BUSH TO EUROPE - RUSSIA 
PARIS - MONDAY, MAY 09, 2005 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
WWII COMMEMORATIONS - PRESIDENT BUSH TO EUROPE - RUSSIA 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
CELEBRATIONS COMMEMORATING THE END OF WORLD WAR II AND 
PRESIDENT BUSH'S PARTICIPATION IN THE CEREMONIES ARE TODAY'S 
MAJOR FRONT-PAGE STORIES, WITH SLIGHT VARIATIONS IN HEADLINES 
AND EDITORIAL COMMENTARIES. THE MOST RECURRENT THEME IS THE 
TENSION BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND MOSCOW, AS ILLUSTRATED IN 
LIBERATION'S HEADLINE: "A TENSE ANNIVERSARY" WHILE LE FIGARO 
TITLES: "BUSH ON A CRUSADE FOR DEMOCRACY ON PUTIN'S TURF." FOR 
POPULAR FRANCE SOIR, "BUSH RAINED ON PUTIN'S PARADE." 
EDITORIALIST THOMAS DE ROCHECHOUART SUGGESTS THAT "MAY 8 2005 
OPENS THE DOOR TO A PERIOD OF GLACIAL PEACE BETWEEN WASHINGTON 
AND MOSCOW, JUST LIKE YALTA MARKED THE START OF THE COLD WAR." 
BUT IN HIS EDITORIAL IN LE FIGARO PIERRE ROUSSELIN REMEMBERS 
RUSSIA'S FORMER GRANDEUR AND REMINDS THE U.S. AND EUROPE TO 
HELP THE KREMLIN "BET ON DEMOCRACY, INSIDE AND ABROAD." IN HER 
EDITORIAL IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX, DOMINIQUE QUINIO EXPLAINS 
PUTIN'S "TASTE FOR MISPLACED NOSTALGIA" AND THE RUSSIAN 
PEOPLE'S "PATRIOTIC PRIDE" WITH "THEIR LOSS OF PAST GRANDEUR." 
QUINIO, LIKE ROUSSELIN REMIND THE READER ABOUT THE 27 MILLION 
RUSSIANS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES TO FREE EUROPE FROM THE NAZIS. 
IN REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE, JEAN-CLAUDE 
KIEFFER ECHOES THEIR REMINDER WITH AN EDITORIAL TITLED: 
"VICTORY WITHOUT RUSSIA?"  POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE PARISIEN 
NOTES THAT PRESIDENT CHIRAC'S APPROACH TO PUTIN DIFFERS FROM 
PRESIDENT BUSH: "PRESIDENT CHIRAC HAS CHOSEN TO PUT THE 
EMPHASIS ON FRANCO-RUSSIAN FRIENDSHIP AND AVOID ANY FORM OF 
REPROACH AGAINST HIS `RUSSIAN' FRIEND.'"  (SEE PART C) 
 
SATURDAY'S LE FIGARO CARRIES AN OP-ED BY VLADIRMIR PUTIN 
TITLED: "LESSONS LEARNED FROM A VICTORY OVER NAZISM." PUTIN 
WRITES: "I AM CONVINCED THAT A UNITED GREATER EUROPE, FROM THE 
SHORES OF THE ATLANTIC TO THE URAL - IN OTHER WORDS TO THE 
PACIFIC - REPRESENTS AN EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL PEOPLE 
ON THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT. TO MAKE POSSIBLE THIS FUTURE OF 
PEACE. THE EUROPEANS CAN COUNT ON RUSSIA JUST AS THEY COUNTED 
ON RUSSIA TO FIGHT NAZISM." 
 
EUROPE AND THE REFERENDUM IS TODAY'S SECOND MAJOR STORY. FOR 
LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION "THE EU IS THE SYMBOL, THE 
INSTRUMENT AND THE POLITICAL GUARANTEE FOR PEACE...THE EU IS A 
RAMPART AGAINST THE RETURN OF NATIONALISMS WHICH, AS PRESIDENT 
MITTERAND SAID, `CARRY IN THEM WAR JUST AS THE DARK CLOUD 
CARRIES A STORM." 
 
FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO PARIS FELIX ROHATYN CONTRIBUTES AN 
OP-ED TO LES ECHOS TITLED: "A `YES' FROM AMERICA." IN HIS 
APPEAL FOR THE EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION, ROHATYN EXPLAINS THAT A 
`NO' VOTE WOULD DISSUADE FOREIGN INVESTMENT. THIS IN TURN 
"WOULD IMPACT NEGATIVELY ON FRANCE'S ECONOMIC GROWTH. I 
SINCERELY HOPE THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE WILL VOTE `YES'. I REALIZE 
THIS MAY NOT BE VERY DIPLOMATIC ON MY PART, BUT THE QUESTION 
IS TOO SERIOUS FOR ME TO KEEP QUIET." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
WWII COMMEMORATIONS - PRESIDENT BUSH TO EUROPE - RUSSIA 
 
"RUSSIA'S GRANDEUR" 
PIERRE ROUSSELIN IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (05/09): "THE 
VISIT OF PRESIDENT BUSH TO MOSCOW. IS TAKING PLACE IN A TENSE 
ATMOSPHERE. THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT FIRST CHOSE TO VISIT THE 
BALTICS, AT THE RISK OF ALIENATING PUTIN. GERMANY HAS 
RECOGNIZED ITS CRIMES, JUST AS JAPAN HAS NEWLY DONE VIS-A-VIS 
THE CHINESE.  WHY DOES RUSSIA HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM IN 
DENOUNCING THE REIGN OF STALIN?  IN PRESENTING THE 25TH OF 
APRIL, THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF THE USSR, AS `THE 
GREATEST GEOPOLITICAL CATASTROPHE OF THE CENTURY,' VLADIMIR 
PUTIN SHOWED THE EXTENT OF HIS NOSTALGIA. PRESIDENT BUSH 
HERALDED ALL OF THESE CONCERNS WHEN HE SPOKE IN RIGA. FOR THE 
KREMLIN, THE CALL TO ORDER IS SERIOUS. IT IS IN LINE WITH THE 
U.S. PRESIDENT'S CRUSADE FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE WORLD, IN THE 
MIDDLE EAST, BUT ALSO IN GEORGIA, UKRAINE AND CENTRAL ASIA. 
BELARUS ILLUSTRATES WASHINGTON'S DEMOCRATIC OFFENSIVE. BECAUSE 
RUSSIA IS NOT JUST ANY OTHER NATION, BECAUSE IT IS A NUCLEAR 
POWER, BECAUSE IT IS A PRIVILEGED AND STRATEGIC PARTNER OF THE 
U.S., IT IS IMPORTANT FOR IT NOT TO FEEL TRAPPED. IT'S UP TO 
OUR LEADERS TO MAKE THE KREMLIN'S CHIEF UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS 
IN HIS OWN INTEREST. TO BET ON INTERNAL DEMOCRACY, AND ON 
DEMOCRACY OUTSIDE HIS BORDERS. THIS IS HOW RUSSIA WILL REGAIN 
ITS LOST GRANDEUR." 
 
"SEPARATE MEMORIES" 
DOMINIQUE QUINIO IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX (05/09): "THE CEREMONIES 
BEING CELEBRATED IN MOSCOW ARE THERE TO SHOW WHAT THE EUROPEAN 
CONTINENT OWES THE SOLDIERS OF THE RED ARMY AND THE 27 MILLION 
RUSSIAN CASUALTIES. THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT AND HIS WEEKEND 
HOSTS REMINDED EVERYONE THAT SIXTY YEARS AGO HALF OF EUROPE 
WAS FREED FROM TOTALITARIANISM WHILE THE OTHER HALF WAS NOT. 
PERHAPS RUSSIAN PATRIOTIC PRIDE, WHICH IS MIXED UP WITH A 
MISPLACED NOSTALGIA, IS DUE TO THE NATION'S FRUSTRATION IN 
HAVING LOST ITS GRANDEUR AND THE UNDER-ESTIMATION, BY HISTORY 
AND BY THE WEST, OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE. 
JUSTICE MUST BE RENDERED TO IT. HERE AND ELSEWHERE, A RIGOROUS 
STUDY OF HISTORY IS IN ORDER SO THAT LIES AND DENIALS DO NOT 
LEAD TO HUMILIATION OR TO HATE. WARS ARE PERVERSE, AND RENDER 
EVEN PEACE PAINFUL OR AT LEAST INCOMPLETE." 
 
"VICTORY WITHOUT RUSSIANS.?" 
JEAN-CLAUDE KIEFER REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE: 
(05/09): "MEMORY IS SELECTIVE. IN THE UNITED STATES, TOO, THEY 
KNOW HOW TO INTERPRET HISTORY. YES, THE AMERICANS LIBERATED 
WESTERN EUROPE FROM NAZISM. NO, THEY DID NOT WIN THE WAR 
ALONE, AS SUCCESSIVE PRESIDENTS IN WASHINGTON WOULD SUGGEST, 
REINFORCED BY HUNDREDS OF HOLLYWOOD FILMS. THE CREDIT FOR 
VICTORY BELONGS FIRST TO CHURCHILL'S GREAT BRITAIN WHICH 
RESISTED ALONE FOR TWO YEARS. THIS CREDIT GOES, TOO, TO THE 
SOVIET UNION. A TROUBLING VICTOR (WHO) REPLACED ONE YOKE WITH 
ANOTHER. STILL, ITS ROLE WAS PRIMORDIAL. WHEREVER ONE GOES (IN 
THE FORMER SOVIET UNION) THERE ARE ONLY VERDUNS. SEEING THOSE 
INFINITE BATTLEFIELDS ONE UNDERSTANDS THAT `THE GREAT 
PATRIOTIC WAR' UNITED THE USSR WITH BLOOD AND STILL UNITES 
RUSSIA. THE AMBIGUITIES (OF WAR) ARE REAL. BUT IT WAS NOT UP 
TO PRESIDENT BUSH TO REMIND VLADIMIR PUTIN, FROM RIGA, ABOUT 
THEM IN REMARKS WORTHY OF THE `COLD WAR.'  TENSIONS WITH 
MOSCOW ARE USELESS.  EVEN IF IT MEANS CONTROLLING, FROM 
GEORGIA, CASPIAN SEA OIL." 
 
"FOR PUTIN, OPERATION SEDUCTION" 
VERONIQUE SOULE IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (05/09): 
"RELATIONS BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND MOSCOW ARE NOW BASED ON 
REALISM TINGED WITH CYNICISM, WITH EACH ACKNOWLEDGING IT NEEDS 
THE OTHER. BOTH PARTNERS REMAIN `STRATEGIC PARTNERS.' BUT 
PRESIDENT BUSH WILL NOT MAKE IT EASY FOR PUTIN, CONVINCED AS 
HE IS ABOUT HIS WORLD MISSION FOR DEMOCRACY, AND IN PARTICULAR 
IN FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS. HIS VISIT TO MOSCOW, WHICH WAS 
PRECEDED BY A VISIT TO LATVIA AND WILL BE FOLLOWED BY ONE TO 
GEORGIA, IS THE PERFECT ILLUSTRATION." 
 
"BUSH'S THREE SLIGHTS TO PUTIN" 
THOMAS DE ROCHECHOUART IN POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER FRANCE SOIR 
(05/09): "MAY 8, 1945 MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE COLD WAR 
BETWEEN THE U.S. AND THE SOVIET UNION. MAY 8, 2005 SEEMS TO BE 
OPENING AN ERA OF GLACIAL PEACE BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND MOSCOW. 
AS PUTIN PUT TOGETHER A CEREMONY THAT WAS MEANT TO REAFFIRM 
RUSSIA'S NEWLY-FOUND POWER, PRESIDENT BUSH BUILT HIS OWN READY- 
MADE PROGRAM TO HUMILIATE THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT. HE WAS 
CAREFUL TO BRING HIS SUPPORT TO THE KREMLIN'S ADVERSARIES 
DURING HIS VISIT TO LATVIA. HE ALSO CALLED FOR FREE ELECTIONS 
IN BELARUS. AND WILL VISIT GEORGIA WHERE HE WILL PROMOTE 
FREEDOM." WOLFF