“We have an optimistic and pessimistic vision at the same time, we are confronted with two feelings that do not go together. We no longer know”, testified on Saturday January 19 on franceinfo David Franck, adviser to French people living abroad in Ukraine, while France recommends that its nationals leave the country. A decision that has “surprised” the diplomat.
“We are torn between not knowing everything and seeing messages arrive telling us to leave by our means, by commercial flights”, says David Frank. He will himself return to France by plane on Sunday with his son and has advanced his departure when he planned to leave on Tuesday. “My wife will stay. We have dogs, the problem is the animals”explains the adviser to French nationals living abroad in Ukraine.
David Franck says he is not afraid for his wife because he does not believe “that Kiev will be bombed. It doesn’t fit into my little brain.”
“I can’t believe Putin’s madness goes so far as to bomb Kiev.”
David Frankat franceinfo
The adviser to French people living abroad in Ukraine says to himself all the same “worried, obviously, but no more than that.” If a conflict should arise, it would be “very localized in the East”according to him.
“In Ukraine, there are two types of French”, explains David Frank. “There are expatriates, who have almost all left, and migrants, like me, we have our lives here. Migrants do not necessarily have the means to pay for plane tickets. They are generally retirees. Some work, some don’t.” The decision to leave or stay in Ukraine is, according to him, “very personal”. “We must leave the choice to everyone. That’s what I told the minister” in charge of French nationals abroad Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.
David Franck also asked the Minister “to activate the crisis cell”. “I wanted to know what the recommendations were. Activating a crisis unit does not necessarily mean evacuating. But it does mean bringing soldiers on site. The soldiers are professionals. They are used to it. We, there are mixed emotions. We don’t know what to do. Even the ambassador or the consul are not evacuation professionals and don’t know when the order should be given or not.“