General Eric Vidaud, the director of French military intelligence, could be fired for falsely forecasting the conflict in Ukraine, according to the unnamed source.
“General Eric Vidaud lost his job because he did not provide the necessary information and did not understand the issues,” said an unnamed source in the Ministry of Defense. France revealed on March 31. Vidaud has held the position of director of French military intelligence for the past seven months.
A spokesman for the French Defense Ministry said army commander Thierry Burkhard did not comment on this report.
General Vidaud before taking office as director of French military intelligence. Photo: French National Defense.
In the months before Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, France’s assessment was contrary to the predictions of its allies. The US and UK believe a major military attack is imminent, while France considers this unlikely.
French President Emmanuel Macron has kept up his diplomacy until the last minute, holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin and trying to set up a summit with US President Joe Biden. Mr. Macron has spent almost no time campaigning for the presidential election in April to focus on solving Ukraine problems, to project the image of a global statesman.
In early March, General Burkhard admitted that French intelligence could not keep up with the US and UK, when Washington and London continuously released information to increase pressure on Moscow. “The American side said that Russia would attack Ukraine and they were right. We think the cost of the military operation in Ukraine will be very high and Russia still has other options,” he said.
Alexandre Papaemmanuel, intelligence expert and professor at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, said General Vidaud could be fired for many reasons, not just because of a wrong forecast of the situation in Ukraine. Just a few weeks after he took office, French military intelligence received heavy criticism when Australia suddenly announced the cancellation of a contract to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of submarines with this country, in order to pursue submarine construction projects. nuclear with the US and UK.
Vu Anh (According to AFP, BBC)
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