EU Court Ruling On Standard Ship Hailed As Blow To Russian Influence In France, Says Activist

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Bernard Grou, spokesperson for the No Shtandart In Europe movement, told this to a Ukrinform correspondent.

"This decision is extremely important not only because it marks the end of the legal challenge to European legislation. If it had not happened, Russian ships could have continued to enter all European ports without any problems. However, fortunately, all our arguments coincided with those of the court, so its ruling will help speed up the conclusion of this case in France, which has been going on for too long, three and a half years," he explained.

At the end of August, the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected an appeal filed by the Russian ship Standard against European sanctions prohibiting all Russian ships from entering European ports. The court confirmed the European Council's previous clarification from June 2024 that the sanctions apply to all Russian ships, including replicas of historical ships.

Grou reminded that the historical replica of Tsar Peter I's frigate continued to circumvent these sanctions in France in 2025. Thus, the Standard regularly entered the port of La Rochelle and participated in regattas in the Gulf of Morbihan. In many ports, activists, together with the Ukrainian community, staged protests and appealed to local authorities.

However, in some places, the ship's captain, Martus, enjoyed their support. In particular, the prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department, where the port of La Rochelle is located, was especially sympathetic to him. And some French authorities continued to interpret the text of the sanctions in a way that was favorable to the Russians. For example, the General Secretariat for Maritime Affairs, the day after the sanctions were explained, clarified that they did not apply to replicas of historic ships. So the final decision of the EU Court will put an end to such questionable communication," he says.

However, according to the pro-Ukrainian activist, the fight against Russian influence will not end there, as Russia ignores the decisions of the European judiciary.

"Russia does not listen to any signals and has nothing but contempt for EU institutions. I think it will continue to send its ghost ships and do everything possible to destabilize our countries. In a way, this also corresponds to the Russian regime's desire to sow discord in the European Union and, in particular, in France. As for its own population, it will continue to use the discourse of a victim offended by the“unfair” attitude towards Russia in Europe," says Grou.

He believes that Russian networks of influence are still active in France, spreading their narratives through various cultural projects, and that the replica of the historic ship is presented here as an object of cultural heritage.

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"France, unfortunately, and we should be ashamed of this, remains a Russophile country in some respects. The French are very naive; they do not understand that culture equals propaganda when it comes to Russia. For them, culture is more of an element of protest, almost an opposition to the authorities. But what we have done, that is, all our resistance, may help inspire those who are fighting against Russian propaganda culture. And the fight against this ship is just one element. In any case, we see that if we work correctly with legal texts, we can make progress," Grua concluded.

As reported by Ukrinform, French activists want to permanently expel the Russian sailing ship Standard from the country .

Photos provided by the No Shtandart In Europe group

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