PARIS, October 30. /TASS/. French authorities are seeking to deport 39 Russian nationals to Russia given that the French security services have registered these individuals as radicals, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told the BFMTV channel.
"We have compiled a list of 39 Russian citizens whom we are closely monitoring due to suspected radicalization. We presented this list to the Russian authorities last week," the minister said.
The French side has already received responses from the Russian authorities to their requests to identify these individuals, in particular to confirm their Russian citizenship, Darmanin said. He gave assurances that, "these people are not walking free, being either in jail or constrained by administrative restrictions."
"We intend to deport them as soon as the Russian authorities give their authorization," the top French cop said. He noted that this is standard procedure and that, in previous years, prior to the Ukrainian conflict, Paris had regularly received consular approval to expel Russian citizens from French territory.
On October 14, Darmanin told reporters that about 60 Russian nationals were on the list of people under surveillance for their adherence to radical ideologies. At the time, he stated his intention to deport 20 of them "if the consent of the Russian authorities is obtained." With this in view, he stated his intention to submit the relevant list to the Russian authorities in order to resume contact on their potential expulsion.
Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in France told TASS that the French authorities had not submitted any requests to the diplomatic mission in Paris regarding the deportation of the 39 Russians announced by Darmanin.
"This topic has so far been discussed by the French only in their information [media] space. As for the embassy, the French Interior Ministry has not approached us officially," the Russian embassy said.