How the Frenchman rejoiced

French actor Gerard Depardieu confirmed that he himself asked to provide him with Russian citizenship. “Yes, I made a request to receive a passport, and I am glad that my request was accepted,” the department said in an appeal , published on the Channel One website. The actor said that he loves Vladimir Putin very much, considers Russia to be a "country of great democracy" and intends to learn Russian.

“I adore your culture, your way of thinking,” the department writes. “My father was at one time a communist and listened to Radio Moscow! This is also a part of my culture. It’s good to live in Russia. It’s not necessary in Moscow, which is too large for me. I prefer the village, I am familiar with wonderful places in Russia.”

As the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov explained, the provision of citizenship is associated with the significant contribution of Department to the development of Russian culture and cinema. He recalled that Depardieu "played in a number of very large film projects, including his work on the role of Rasputin."

Depardieu decided to move to Belgium in connection with the introduction of a 75 percent income tax for the rich. France Prime Minister Jean-Mark Airo called this decision of the actor "miserable and nonpatriotic." In response, Depardieu abandoned French citizenship.

On December 19, the Le Monde newspaper announced that recently, Depardieu has been considering options for moving to Belgium, Montenegro or Russia. In the company of close friends, the publication claimed, the actor joked that he had a house in Belgium, in Montenegro - friends and business, and from Russia he was "sent by Putin's passport." “If Gerard really wants to have a residence permit or a Russian passport, we will assume that this is a resolved issue,” Putin said at a press conference on December 20. At the same time, he expressed the hope that this would not affect Russian-French interstate relations.

On December 29, the Constitutional Council of France canceled the "rich man". The tax was not appropriate to the basic law itself, but the method of calculation. Depardieu said that the decision of the Constitutional Council would not affect its decision on emigration.

According to Le Monde, the head of the Belgian commission on naturalization warned that receiving the actor of Russian citizenship will be taken into account when considering his request to the authorities of the kingdom.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov welcomed the "pleasant news" about the new citizenship of Department. "I previously offered the Department to live in Grozny, if I receive citizenship. We will be glad!" - Kadyrov wrote on Twitter. On October 5 last year, along with the Ornella Muti and the stars of the Russian stage, Depardieu took part in the celebration of the Grozny Day and 36th anniversary of Kadyrov. "Glory to Grozny, Glory to Chechnya, Glory to Kadyrov!" - proclaimed Department from the stage.

The previous holiday in Grozny with the participation of Western stars turned into a scandal. Actress Hilary Suronk, under the pressure of human rights organizations, publicly apologized for this trip and fired her managers.