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QuoteWe will let nothing pass': France intercepts Russia-linked oil tanker in Mediterranean
FRANCE
France's navy on Thursday intercepted an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia's sanctioned "shadow fleet" in the Mediterranean Sea. French President Emmanuel Macron said the operation, which took place between Spain and Morocco, was carried out with the help of several allies.
Issued on: 22/01/2026 - 16:24
1 min Reading time

By:
FRANCE 24

France's navy, with the help of allies, on Thursday boarded a tanker alleged to be from Russia's sanction-busting "shadow fleet" in the Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron said.

"This morning, the French Navy boarded and searched an oil tanker from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag," he said on X.

"The operation was carried out on the high seas in the Mediterranean, with the support of several of our allies," he added, saying the vessel had been "diverted".

"We will let nothing pass," said Macron.

"The activities of the shadow fleet help finance the war of aggression against Ukraine," he added.

"This morning, the French Navy boarded and searched an oil tanker from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag," Emmanuel Macron said on X.

Local maritime authorities said the navy seized an oil tanker called "Grinch" between Spain and Morocco.

"After the team boarded, an examination of documents confirmed the doubts as to the regularity of the flag," the Mediterranean Maritime Prefecture said.

The ship "is currently being escorted by the national navy to a point of anchorage for further verifications", it added.

"We are determined to uphold international law and to ensure the effective enforcement of sanctions," Macron said in a post about the interception, with a photo showing a French helicopter hovering over a ship.

Western countries have slapped sanctions on a number of oil tankers accused of transporting Russian oil in defiance of sanctions imposed by the US, EU and UK following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

A figaro article adds the UK and other allied countries were involved
https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/la-marine-francaise-a-arraisonne-un-petrolier-en-provenance-de-russie-en-mediterranee-annonce-emmanuel-macron-20260122

Another Figaro article says Zelensky approved, unsurprisingly:

https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/en-direct-forum-de-davos-apres-sa-volte-face-sur-le-groenland-donald-trump-presente-son-conseil-de-paix-et-rencontre-volodymyr-zelensky-20260122

QuoteLe président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky a salué jeudi l'interception par la marine française d'un pétrolier russe sanctionné en Méditerranée, affirmant qu'une telle action était «exactement le genre de décision nécessaire» pour empêcher les revenus pétroliers russes de financer la guerre en Ukraine.

«Les navires doivent être saisis. Et ne serait-il pas juste de confisquer et de vendre le pétrole transporté par ces pétroliers ?», a-t-il déclaré sur X.

More of the same, he added.

Off the Record / Re: ICE, ICE, baby - Immigrati...

Last post by The Minsky Moment - Today at 11:25:40 AM

Quote from: Syt on Today at 02:51:25 AMEither way, I assume they'll argue that the final deportation order is already judge-approved so an additional warrant is superfluous?

The final deportation order comes from an immigration "judge" who is an executive branch official not an Article 3 federal judge. That order is an authorization of administrative action, nothing more.

Immigration judges can't provide ICE agents authority to enter a home; the warrant requirement is enshrined in Article IV of the Constitution, and it can't be evaded because some acting agency clown has a flunky draft a memo full of legal baloney.

I had strongly suspected that something like this memo was floating around because even in this lawless authoritarian muck of an administration, there had to be some agency guidance underlying the widespread and endemic abuse of administrative warrants by ICE. Obviously that suspicion was widely shared as this whistleblower org finally snagged a copy.

Off the Record / Re: The EU thread

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 11:19:39 AM

Yeah I think that's right.

Part of that is, ultimately, the problem that has always been identified from a pro-European perspective which is that there isn't a European demos. There is a symbolic, legal, formal side of this which the EU has been trying to create: flag, European anthem, citizen of the EU etc. But I think that only gets you so far.

This slightly goes to OvB's point of the willingness of, say, the Portuguese to fight Estonia's war. The way democratic states work is that there is a sense of the shared identity/demos which means that I live in one of the safest Labour seats in the country which was I think 80% Remain (and I'm part of that majority) but accept that I am bound by and the legitimacy of a government primarily elected by, say, Red Wall voters who want Brexit and swing between Labour, Tory and Reform. At a even more basic level that is, in part, what Scottish and Welsh nationalism is - it rejects the British identity/demos and state.

I know I always go back to the Eurozone crisis - but I think it's because it's key and the huge fork in the road when Europe decisively took the wrong path on basically every front. But at the core stake, at the moment of global financial crisis and dealing with ideas of assuming common/shared debt, revenue and costs - it was all pinned on the member states. I think this is part of the challenge the EU has had for the last 15 years - that it is (in my view) at the edge of what's possible under the treaties and from a democratic perspective, but the next leap requires a European demos, a European democracy and the possibiliity of, at the most benign end, Dutch taxpayers on the hook for Greek indulgence and at the most extreme Spanish soldiers dying in a frozen field in North-East Europe.

Two slightly disconnected thoughts.

One is whether we're going into a neo-Medieval world anyway - so I think that shared identity/demos is fraying at the national state level already. Whether it's in Britain over Brexit and the IndyRef or the US with Trump or Greece with Syriza - I think this will continue with the RN in France. I feel like we are in an age where people are increasingly dissatisfed with accepting their fellow citizens democratic power over them. I can't remember who - it might have been Hedley Bull - but there was an English school international relations theorist who talked about that state based identity being quite novel and wondering about an emerging neo-Medievalism where people had more attachment and identity at the local and the transnational level. So people identify with their state or city or sub-national unit and with something at the transnational level (like Christendom - or the "West"). I think I see it in London where lots of people feel Londoner and also feel they've more in common with say New York than Middlesbrough. I think this is particularly the case when we all have and live onthe American internet so Mamdani is a huge hit globally and what lessons can we learn etc. And part of me slightly feels that no British person should really have an opinion about the Mayor of New York because it doesn't matter to us

But on the sort of transnational level it does - we're in the same sphere, like Christendom or the ummah.

In relation to Europe I think the inevitable question from that is whether it is a twentieth century slightly modernist state building project in a state-dissolving post-modern 21st century?

The other thing I slightly wonder about Western leaders - and Europe's the extreme example - is it seems to me a little bit that the quality of statecraft by Western leaders is inversely proportional to the regularity of their meetings. And I know there's a bit that's just quite tongue-in-cheek about that but I do think there is something to it, especially at the European level with so many regular European Councils of the different ministers. I think we've all worked in an organisation where having another meeting is the same as doing something. But I also wonder if it slightly distorts leaders' views were increasingly their "stakeholders" are not voters or their party but each other and the NGOs and lobbyists and CEOs they meet in the rolling calendar of summits and councils and forums. It's almost too easy to see and visit and speak to each other which is producing its own form of paralysis.

In the specific European context I think it has empowered the European Council over the European Commission and that is a huge part of why integration has stalled in recent years because historically the Commission is the engine of integration.

Off the Record / Re: It Was Nice Knowing You Al...

Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - Today at 10:56:54 AM

Quote from: viper37 on Today at 10:43:41 AMThey're all 3*?
I thought there was a fuss because one AirForce general wasn't of the proper rank when nominated by Trump/Heggseth.

The five-star rank (O-11) was created specifically to honor several flag officers after World War II. It is technically a rank level, but has not been, and was not intended to be, issued to any other officers. Four-star (O-10) is the actual highest rank in the US military.

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by HVC - Today at 10:47:34 AM

The No Carney's Allowed club.

Off the Record / Re: It Was Nice Knowing You Al...

Last post by viper37 - Today at 10:43:41 AM

Quote from: grumbler on January 21, 2026, 10:17:10 PM
Quote from: viper37 on January 21, 2026, 01:52:39 PM
Quote from: Jacob on January 20, 2026, 03:36:50 PMRight now I'm feeling slightly less pessimistic than last night.
He realized he can't just order 5* generals around to do whatever he wants.

[nitpick] There haven't been any 5-star American generals in Omar Bardley died in 1981. [/nitpick]