Does Olivier Mateu share the positions of the Kremlin?

In the middle of this demonstration in front of an oil depot, the leader is easy to find. He is the one everyone greets and who carries the crowd away when he decides to approach the CRS. It is also the one that everyone listens to, quietly. Olivier Mateu has become one of the faces of the protest against the pension reform, because of his radical positions which contrast with the discourse of the CGT at the national level. “The first requisition is war”he said in particular on March 2.

Analyzes often in phase with those of the Kremlin

Another big difference with Philippe Martinez, membership of the World Federation of Trade Unions. This is the former inter-union of Soviet European countries, closely linked to Moscow, now bringing together unions from North Korea and Cuba. This inter-union, the CGT of Bouches-du-Rhône joined it in 2019. Olivier Mateu kisses the former general George Mavrikos, who made these remarks last year: “The support and equipment of neo-Nazis in Ukraine proves the true face of the United States, NATO and the European Union. With this attitude, they legitimize Nazism”. It’s almost word for word Kremlin propaganda. So what does Olivier Mateu think? “I think there are circumstances that made it come to this.” For Olivier Matheux, it is therefore NATO that created the conditions for war. An anti-Atlanticist and especially anti-imperialist discourse. This hard line from the leader of CGT 13 on domestic issues is therefore also accompanied by analyzes of the war in Ukraine, often in phase with those of the Kremlin.