Putin Seeks Paris Landmark as Hollande’s Russia Ties Defy Obama
A stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower and Paris’s famed Alexandre III bridge, Russia’s Vladimir Putin is putting his mark on the French capital.
Construction of a new Russian Orthodox church with five golden domes in central Paris gets under way in the next few weeks, with U.S. and European efforts to slam Putin’s Russia for its incursions into Ukraine doing little to halt its progress. The yet-to-be-named church is being built on a plot of land sold in 2010 to Russia by the French state for 73 million euros ($99 million). The deal was sealed by Former President Nicolas Sarkozy. His successor Francois Hollande’s government says it’s “determined” to see the monument erected.
While less controversial than France’s decision to go ahead with the sale of two warships to the former Cold War foe at the risk of displeasing the U.S. and other allies, the church’s construction is yet another indication of France’s complicated relationship with Russia. France, which is struggling to rebound from two years with barely any growth and record joblessness, needs business from Russia. France’s exports to Russia have risen fourfold since 2000 to 7 billion euros last year.
“The deal is done, Russia is the owner of that land,” Eric Woerth, who was Sarkozy’s budget minister and signed the deal in March 2010, said in a telephone interview. “It’s not in France’s interest to mess up things with Russia; nor with the U.S., for that matter. Yes, it’s a fine line.”
As the crisis in Ukraine escalated -- resulting in Russia’s annexation of Crimea -- the French lowered the profile of the project that will raise Russian Orthodox crosses as high as 117 feet in the Paris sky. A spring ceremony to lay the first stone in the presence of Putin was quietly canceled, an official in Hollande’s office said.
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-06-15/putin-seeks-paris-landmark-as-hollande-s-russia-ties-defy-obama
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