Alain Juillet is a former French senior civil servant. He was director of intelligence within the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE), and the senior official in charge of economic intelligence for three prime ministers (Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Dominique de Villepin and François Fillon).
Juillet also served for five years as an officer in the parachute commandos in the Action Department of the Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage (SDECE), the former name of the DGSE.
In an interview, he discussed the war in Ukraine, the role of France but also the reconstruction which, according to him, will not benefit France, but the Americans and especially the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock. The decision was taken by President Zelensky despite the fact that France had been the third largest contributor to Ukraine’s efforts.
Reasoning with facts not ideas
He offered the point of view of an intelligence operative, that is to say from the angle of a realist: “I reason on facts, not on ideas”, he explained.
According Juillet, militaries from the US and EU as their subordinates are cynically testing their weapons systems and sending Ukrainian as well as Russian soldiers to their deaths.
He chided the French leader for not having taken a neutral stance after Macron had leaked a confidential conversation with Russian authorities, something that irreparably damaged France’s position as a mediator, he said. Juillet said he was convinced that pro-Atlanticist forces at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were responsible for the leak.
For Alain Juillet, it is obvious that the Americans and the Russians would eventually have to find a solution to stop the conflict. France, Europe and Zelensky will then be forced to accept the decision taken by the two superpowers, without having a say in the matter. He underscored how disadvantageous this would be for France.
Currently, the battle for Bakhmut is being decided by “one of the greatest Russian military men, General Gerasimov”. According to Juillet, Gerasimov is well-versed in modern warfare.
Franco-German relationship ‘dead’
Juillet also affirmed that the Franco-German relationship was now “dead”, especially because the interests of France and Germany diverge in terms of energy policy. Due to German Green policies, cheap and reliable French nuclear power was shunned in favour of gas, now pegged to rising expensive LNG imports.
Furthermore, Atlanticists in Germany have been torpedoing all French suggestions and projects related to a common European defence.
Juillet is a member of the Centre français de recherche sur le renseignement(CF2R), a think-tank directed by Éric Denécé and whose positions are considered favourable to the Kremlin.
He regularly speaks at conferences organised by Mario Sandoval, described by StreetPress as a “salesman for the South American extreme right”.
In February 2020, he joined RT France, the French-speaking branch of the Russia Today channel, where he hosted a geopolitical column twice a month until he was forced to end his commitment on 11 January 2022. Juillet said that during his two years at RT, he had complete freedom to voice his opinions and the channel never censored any of his ideas.