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FRENCH ACTOR AND newly-minted Russian citizen Gerard Depardieu has formally registered as resident of the little-known Russian region of Mordovia, giving his residence as No 1, Democracy Street.
Grand ceremony
In a grand ceremony in Mordovia’s main city of Saransk that bore little relation to the average Russian’s experience of local bureaucracy, Depardieu signed a form and had his passport stamped to formally become a resident.
The procedure was greeted by wild applause by the crowds crammed into the city’s state theatre to witness the procedure as the burly French megastar grinned broadly.
“Glory to Saransk, Glory to Mordovia, Glory to Russia!” he bellowed in celebration, in heavily-accented Russian.
Depardieu then proudly produced the Russian passport, complete with the new registration stamp, to show off to the cameras, an AFP correspondent said.
His address was announced as an apartment on No 1, Democracy Street in an upscale area of Saransk which belongs to relatives of his friend, the head of Russia’s State Film Fund Nikolai Borodachev.
All Russian citizens are obliged to be formally registered as living in a certain city, town or village with a corresponding stamp in their passport to prove it.
Passport
Depardieu was granted a Russian passport by President Vladimir Putin in January after complaining at high tax rates in France. This trip is his second to Russia as a Russian citizen and he is expected to stay in Saransk for several days.
The Mordovia region in central Russia was until know chiefly known for its network of prison camps where one of the jailed Pussy Riot punks is serving her sentence.
Populated by a large community of Finnic-speaking Mordvins, it is also a host city of the 2018 World Cup that is to be hosted by Russia.
“We are very happy that the citizen of the world, the great actor Gerard Depardieu, has registered namely in Saransk,” said the head of the Mordovia region, Vladimir Volkov.
We will continue to get Depardieu acquainted with our culture, our agriculture, industry, our successful experience of inter-ethnic relations and our people.
According to Yuri Mishanin, the head of the theatre where the registration ceremony was held, Depardieu was also hoping to “open a small restaurant here in Saransk”.
Depardieu was given citizenship by Putin in early January. He is not expected to live full time in Russia but the Saransk authorities are expecting he will make regular visits to his adopted new home.
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Nothing to do with that peaceful religion of course.
Probably America’s fault scipio because of the Malian governments improved relationship with western nations, well from the tin foil hat brigade anyway?.
The fact is westerners in any predominately Islamic nation can often be taking their lives in their own hands, you don’t know when or where these Islamofacist nut jobs are going to strike next, but strike they will.
Look guys, we know you hate the religion of islam, but you could at least wait for further info before you spout your hatred.
And remember if someone blatantly hated the jewish religion like you two hate islam, we know what they would be called.
….There’s murder on the dance floor…you better not kill the groove….
Once a bigot always a bigot eh Scipio? Let’s condemn Austrian Protestants for the actions of Northern Loalist murder gangs. Let’s judge ALL Christians by the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church, let’s judge ALL Jews by the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Let’s blame ALL secularists for the actions of Hitler & Stalin. Is that how we should work this? So called Islamic Fundamentalists have killed more Shi’ia Muslims than any other religious group but hey, according to Scipio we should blame all Shi’as too! It’s about as logical as blaming German Jews for Nazism because they are German!
Scipio doesn’t want shades or a nuanced view, everything is black and white. Muslims bad, everyone else good.
The useful idiots are out this evening I see defending the Jihadis. I’m sure they’ll return the favour.
and they call the likes of scipio a bigot?, when he like me thinks the spread of this Islamic disease will have my grand children cursing me!.
Wiiliam some people won’t realise until it’s too late and they’re jizya paying dhimmis.
Ten Major I judge the actions of jihadists by the prophet they wish to emulate, not by ridiculous comparisons to completely different religions, and this and the actions of the likes of Isis is completely in tune with his teachings.
It’s clear from both of your comments that you’re a self-loathing western hating apologist for Islamic terrorism. It must be hard to look in the mirror.
I neither condone nor support the likes of ISIS, how you come to that conclusion is beyond me. They are an anathema to me. My whole point is not to blame different religions or it’s followers for the sins of others who may even claim to speak for them. You may enjoy sitting god like and judging entire swathes of humanity based on the actions of some insane group of fanatics but I don’t.
I would never make a Jew unwelcome because of the actions of the IDF, no more than I would make a Muslim feel unwelcome for the actions of some crazy group like ISIS. I am also educated enough to know that Judaism has many aspects, so too does Islam. That said I am suspicious of all religious groupings, especially Monotheistic ones.
Something tell me you would never be called a self loather among your colleagues.
All I do know for certain is that the only troops on the ground fighting ISIS are The Kurds, Hezbollah, Medhi Army in Iraq and the army of the Syrian state.Where is the religion of peace (Christianity) in all this? Ten to fifteen thousand meters above it all at best and then almost exclusively over Iraq.
The defenders of civilisation are an unlikely, odd and disparate group to say the least.
You should have mentioned in your piece that the Irish Defence Forces are deployed to Mali in small numbers.
They are there as part of an EU training mission working with the British Army to train the local army.
One Irish officer is in Bamako attached to the mission HQ, the others are 100k away at a training camp.
Your reporter should check that they are safe, if they are on a heightened security alert, and the effect this attack will have on the mission, if any.
I was actually drinking in that place two weeks ago.
that would be asking the journal staff to do some work and not just redistribute articles from other news agencies.
I wonder who’s responsible….
Isn’t it bad enough that our army is collaborating with an organisation that was involved in the murder of hundreds of unarmed Irish men, women and children either directly or by their trained proxies but you want to highlight that shame?
Dear oh dear, I am all for peace and reconciliation and close ties with our nearest neighbour but not with their military which has colluded in murder and cover up so much, all with in living memory. Some of these thugs are still serving in high rank. The British army’s record in ‘training’ armies and militias (murder gangs) is horrific compared to our army’s proud and excellent record in peace keeping.
Cowardly murderers who are muslim
@Buckwheat MacMillan. Verey well put. I couln’t agree with you more.
Mali is far but Clongriffin is near. Focus here because this is where the “Fighters in Allah’s Cause” will be born,- bank-rolled by govt. of Qatar who is chief enabler of Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas/ISIS/ETC.
And below is a quote from Mohammed’s war manual.
Volume 4, Book 52, Number 196 :
Narrated by Abu Huraira
Allah ‘s Apostle said, ” I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,’ and whoever says, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,’ his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah, (either to punish him or to forgive him.)”
have your say