Media: In 2018, Macron had lunch with Durov and suggested that he move Telegram headquarters to France

In 2017, the intelligence services of the United Arab Emirates and France hacked the phone of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, and a year later, French President Emmanuel Macron met him for lunch and offered to move the messenger's headquarters to France. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing its sources. According to the publication, Durov refused.

One of the WSJ's sources said that at the same time, the French president and the Telegram founder discussed granting him French citizenship. Durov received it in 2021.

According to sources, a year before the meeting with Macron, the Telegram founder became the target of a joint operation by the French and UAE intelligence services called Purple Music, which resulted in Durov's personal iPhone being hacked. As the publication writes, the reason for this operation was the "extreme concern" of the French intelligence services that the terrorist organization Islamic State is actively using Telegram to recruit militants and plan attacks.

In turn, a source close to Durov told WSJ that Telegram had long ignored subpoenas and court orders. Letters sent by law enforcement agencies accumulated in the company's email, which is rarely checked.

On August 24, Pavel Durov was detained at Paris's Le Bourget airport, where he had arrived on a private jet from Baku. His bodyguard and assistant were detained along with him. These two were released after questioning, and Durov's detention was extended until August 28.

Shortly after the arrest, information was spread in the media that Durov had flown to France to have dinner with Macron. However, as Business FM reports , it later turned out that this was a joke news item published by the French satirical publication Le Canard Enchaîné.

French prosecutors said the Telegram founder was detained in a case brought against an "unnamed person" on 12 charges, including failure to cooperate with authorities, complicity in distributing pornographic images of minors, complicity in drug trafficking and fraud as part of an organized group.

Following the arrest of its founder, Telegram issued an official statement claiming that the company complied with EU laws. It also called absurd claims that the messenger or its owner were responsible for abuses on the platform. In turn, Macron assured the public that Durov’s arrest was not politically motivated.

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