Novoe Vremya: Traitors and Spies

Bernard-Henri Lévy, writer, philosopher, and a personal friend of the President of France, explains why Europe has betrayed Ukraine and dissects the myths of Vladimir Putin

Philosopher, writer, and journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy is one of the main advocates for Ukraine in France.

In February 2015, a few days before the shooting of protesters in Kyiv, he spoke from the stage on the Maidan and gave a speech that was published by the leading French media a day later.

And then at the beginning of March 2015 he was once again standing on the main political stage of the Ukrainian capital and made statements that were later disseminated by the media of his native country.

“People of Maidan!” Lévy proclaimed. “You routed Yanukovych. You have inflicted a historic defeat on tyranny. You are Europeans not only because of history, but also because of the blood that was shed.”

The opinion of the person who called the Ukrainians even more European than the Europeans themselves was heard by the most influential people of France.

Moreover, he is close to the first person of his country—President François Hollande.

Before his last trip to Ukraine, Lévy prudently visited Hollande. The meeting took place on the day when Russian sailors were forbidden to board a French Mistral helicopter carrier.

The President assured the writer and journalist that the helicopter carrier, built on Russia’s order, would not be given to Russia by France because of its aggressive politics. France would “stand firm” said Lévy, citing Hollande’s words.

Lévy however is no stranger to sharp political turns. As a journalist, he covered conflicts in many hot spots—from Bangladesh to Yugoslavia and Georgia.

Lévy has written about two dozen books in his forty years in the profession. The most famous of them is Public Enemies—the journalist’s correspondence with the renowned French writer Michel Houellebecq that was published in Russia.

After coming to Kyiv numerous times this year, the writer met our journalist. At 8 am in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel he looked very stylish in the French manner—wearing a dark suit and a snow-white shirt with the top buttons undone.

Knowing that he would have his photo shoot, Lévy came totally prepared. He miraculously found a makeup artist for himself in an unknown city at this early hour.

However, when we started to talk about the events in Ukraine that happened over the past year, he totally forgot about his own look.

NV: You were in Ukraine during the Maidan. Why did you need this?

BHL: It is because of Ukraine itself. There is here now a frontline in the new metaphysical war between Europe and those who want to destroy it. Kyiv today is the center of Europe, its capital. It is not only because you paid for this in blood.

It is not only because young people died there, holding the EU flag in their hands. This is because Ukraine nowadays is a place where Europe can be reborn, or can allow itself to be destroyed.

NV: Recently you said that Europe betrayed Ukraine. Why?

BHL: From the very first day when armed people started to enter Crimea, Europe should have intervened and stopped the annexation. This did not happen.

One country violently breaks all the rules and Europe does nothing. I call this a betrayal.

Whatever is happening in Donbas and what happened in Crimea is unprecedented. The fact that Europe is letting this happen will have far-reaching consequences. By betraying the integrity of Ukraine we are betraying our own values and principles.

NV: Has the attitude towards Ukraine changed in Europe?

BHL: It changed, but not enough. There are some sanctions against Putin now and they, of course, harm his regime, but it is not enough. Europe is divided on this issue. Great Britain does not want to lose investors. Germany is frightened of problems with gas delivery. France has some other reasons. Europe does not present a united front.

NV: What is the position of French politicians when it comes to the situation in Ukraine?

BHL: I talk with President François Hollande. And my impression is that Ukraine is a very important topic for him.

Hollande knew Petro Poroshenko long before he became the Ukrainian president.

Holland initiated the “Normandy” format of the negotiations [in June there were negotiations that aimed to resolve the conflict in Ukraine where, in addition to Ukraine and Russia, France and Germany also participated], where he was leading the dialogue with Putin in a very tough manner.

I talked to the President on the day when Russian sailors were forbidden to board a French helicopter carrier Mistral. He said that France would stand firm and Russia would not get these ships.

The European Union can buy them and in such a way lay the first stone in the European security system. There is an option to sell them to Canada.

There is also the possibility to give them to Ukraine—it would be a nice symbolic gesture.

The EU could allocate a long-term loan to Ukraine or some Ukrainian oligarchs could pay for them.

NV: What is the attitude of regular French people towards the conflict in Ukraine?

BHL: We have strong traditions of the “French Maidan,” traditions of revolutions because we had five of them. Therefore, we tend to support you or at least to understand you.

In France sympathy for and interest in Ukraine grew after the Maidan. Only far-right nationalists and fascists support Putin. By the way, we have more of them in France than here, in Ukraine.

But the average French person knows that Putin is a Russian Marine Le Pen [the leader of the right-wing nationalistic political party Front National].

French people know very well why Ukrainians went to the Maidan and they feel ashamed. The values that we have ignored for a long time were newly reborn in Ukraine.

You reminded us about our own ideals, and we are ashamed and grateful for that.

NV: You covered the events in Georgia during Russia’s invasion in 2008. Do you think we will see the same scenario in Ukraine?

BHL: Georgia has its own Crimea—Ossetia—and it is still occupied. Russia went further there, and Putin’s tanks were situated 60 kilometers from Tbilisi. Imagine Russian tanks 60 kilometers away from Kyiv…

Those were scary times. I was in a burning Gori and saw Russian soldiers wearing black uniforms that came very close to the capital. Now it is okay to say bad things about Mikhail Saakashvili, but as a matter of fact at that time he acted very bravely—he was cold blooded and reacted quickly.

NV: What is the reason for Putin’s deeds, as you see it?

BHL: The first problem is his ego. The second is a thirst to get revenge on Europe. He blames America, Pope John Paul II, and Europe for the downfall of the Soviet Union. The third reason is Putin’s ideology.

He is not only an adventurer. Putin has his own very strong ideology—Eurasianism.

This theory about the role of Russians in history appeared for the first time eighty years ago in Prague, in the circles of linguists like Nikolai Trubetskoy.

Now it is professed by the Russian professor Alexander Dugin. Thus, Putin’s Eurasianism is not only a geopolitical project but also a philosophical one.

Ukraine is an element in this project as it has a special place in Eurasian theory. It is not Tajikistan or Kazakhstan. Ukraine is something like the nest, the cradle of history.

Putin is using myths, but if one builds politics on phantoms, the dead will eat those who are alive. Politicians should be prosaic.

NV: You say that today’s crisis is metaphysical. In this case, is the gap between the European and Russian ideologies avoidable?

BHL: I thought of myself my entire life as a friend of the Russian people. I was one of those people who brought Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to France. I was friends with Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner. I visited them in exile. I always kept in touch with Russian dissidents.

Russia is divided into the readers of Pushkin and Turgenev, and the readers of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. These are two different Russias, and I hope the first will gain victory over the second.

Yes, the values of the European Union and Putin’s Eurasian project could clash.

Maybe we will have to compete for many years. Well, let’s compete. I am sure we will win. We are stronger.

NV: What is the current balance of power? Will the world be able to resist Putin?

BHL: It is impossible to calculate the balance of power. But you proved your courage. You have a good president, avid patriotism, and you have allies. European public opinion is on your side. That is why I think that the balance of power will be on the Ukrainian side. Putin is not as strong as he seems. He is a paper tiger. When he sees the situation in the economy, with the falling ruble and oil prices declining…

Putin does not have the support they claim. The polls show that a minority supports a serious military invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Putin is weak and we do not have to buy his tricks such as that photo shoot with the naked torso in the style of Benito Mussolini. It is all bullshit. In reality the king is naked.

NV: What about the nuclear threat? Many Europeans are scared that Putin will use it.

BHL: This is not more than some excuse from Europeans to do nothing. If people do not want to resist, they excuse themselves with the explanation that resistance can enrage the opponent. This is the Munich syndrome—to look for an opportunity to slow down. Even in Russia all serious people know that it is not easy to launch a nuclear explosion. There is no nuclear button. It does not exist anywhere.

Even in such dictatorial countries as Russia, there are several people involved in this process, and several keys exist.

Author: Yelena Tribushnaya

Photo: Natalya Kravchuk / НВ, EPA/UPG, Bernard-Henri Lévy via Facebook, bernard-henri-levy.com, 4ubuk.blogspot.com, nikcenter.org

The article was published in #31 issue of “Novoe Vremya” (“New Time”) magazine on 12 Deceber, 2014 ( http://nvua.net/project/O-predateliah-i-shpionah-Levi.html)

Translation: Olesya Kravchuk, journalist, interpreter

Additional translation and editing by Peter Bejger