France Goes Dark? Staff In 19 French Nuclear Power Plants To Go On Strike Tomorrow

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/25/2016 13:59 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-25/france-goes-dark-staff-all-19-french-nuclear-power-plants-go-strike-tomorrow
Following strikes over the unpopular French labor reform, that started over the weekend and crippled the French refining industry leading to gasoline shortages and rationing, things are about to get far more serious for the country whose economy has already been threatened with a sharp slowdown as a result of a relentless wave of labor unrest. According to Reuters, staff in France's 19 nuclear plants - which by definition we assume is essential - have voted to go on strike on Thursday as part of protests over a labour reform, according to a CGT union official.
While industry experts say planned strikes are unlikely to provoke blackouts because of legal limits on strike action in the nuclear industry and France's ability to import power from neighbouring countries, it would not be at all surprising to see the opposite outcome.
"It will start tonight at 2100 (1900 GMT) and last 24 hours," CGT spokesman Laurent Langlard told Reuters on Wednesday. "Our goal is not to bring down the network,” general secretary of the CGT-Energie de l'Aube, Arnaud Pacot, told Francetv Info. On the other hand, considering that France derives about 75 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy, it is difficult to envision a different outcome.

Cooling towers of the Electricite de France (EDF)
nuclear power station at Nogent-Sur-Seine
Once stopped, a nuclear reactor would take 3 to 5 days to restart. A spokesman for EDF [French electricity provider] told AFP that it was "difficult" to predict the consequences of such a move.
CGT (General Confederation of Labor) is a national trade union center, one of the five key unions in France. Trade unions in France are known to have strong support among workers, and are able to mobilize employees very rapidly.
The announcement comes amidst a major fuel crisis that is hitting the country due to a massive strike. As of Monday, about 1,600 gas stations were running out of fuel, six out of eight oil refineries were blocked, and five out of around 100 fuel depots affected. French motorists have been queuing in panic to fill up their tanks at service stations that still operate.
The French authorities began by saying there is no fuel crisis in the country, but then France's oil industry federation admitted that they had started using strategic oil reserves against the refinery blockade.
The reserves would last for three months, Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres (UFIP) President Francis Duseux told RMC radio.

"The TTIP Is Doomed" - France Threatens To Reject Obama's Huge Transatlantic Trade Deal

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/03/2016 11:52 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-03/ttip-doomed-france-threatens-reject-obamas-huge-transatlantic-trade-deal
Following this weekend's leak by Greenpeace demonstrating not only that the TTIP is driven entirely by narrow corporate interests, but that Obama is openly willing to reneg on his pro-environment agenda just to pass the Transatlantic Treaty at any cost, the blowback arrived earlier today when France became the first major European nation which threatened to reject the huge free trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union, because according to AP "it's too friendly to U.S. business and probably doomed."
Signs of trouble have been dogging the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a U.S.-EU free trade zone encompassing half the world economy, for months but only today have we seen the accumulated tension bubble up to the surface.
French president Francois Hollande said Tuesday that France "will never accept" challenges to its farming and culture in exchange for better access to U.S. markets. "That's why at this stage, France says no," the Socialist leader said at a conference on left-wing politics.
Earlier Tuesday, French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl told Europe-1 radio that negotiations "are totally blocked" and that a halt to talks "is the most probable option." He insisted on better farming and environmental protections, adding that "in its current state, France cannot sign it."
"Europe is giving a lot ... but receiving very little in return," he said.
In an unexpected twist to what was supposed to be a smoothly implemented treaty, European officials appear to be toughening their rhetoric after Greenpeace leaked large amounts of confidential negotiating documents that suggest the EU is coming under U.S. pressure to weaken consumer protections in key sectors.

Protesters wear masks of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel
as they demonstrate against TTIP free trade agreement
The EU chief negotiator said several Greenpeace conclusions were "false" while U.S. Trade representative spokesman Trevor Kincaid said the interpretations were misleading and sometimes wrong.
Still, EU negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero said Monday that major disagreements remain between the two sides following the 13th round of talks last week. The U.S. election campaign is complicating negotiations, making it increasingly unlikely that President Barack Obama can achieve a deal before leaving office.
France and some other European countries with rich culinary and farming traditions are particularly concerned about U.S. policies that give greater freedom to trade in genetically modified food, chlorine-rinsed poultry and hormone-treated beef.
France is also protective of subsidies to its film industry, fearing eventual domination by deep-pocketed Hollywood.
Meanwhile, as reported previously, support for the TTIP has tumbled on both sides of the Atlantic, with just 15% of Americans and 17% of Germans now responding that the trade deal would be beneficial, down from more than half as of two years ago.

"France Is At War": Hollande Unleashes 2nd Day Of ISIS Strikes, Mobilizes 115,000, Moves To Change Constitution

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/17/2015 13:35 -0500
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-17/france-war-hollande-unleashes-2nd-day-isis-strikes-mobilizes-115000-moves-change-con
France, still reeling from the carnage that unfolded in the streets of Paris last Friday, conducted dozens upon dozens of police raids on Tuesday, after more than 160 similar operations carried out on Monday led to the discovery of numerous weapons including a rocket launcher, Kalashnikov, and a bulletproof vest.
French authorities are still largely in the dark regarding how many people were ultimately involved in the attack and with suspected “mastermind” Abdelhamid Abaaoud out of reach in Syria, police are focused on locating Salah Abdeslam who allegedly helped with logistics and rented a black Volkswagen Polo used by the gunmen who stormed the Bataclan concert hall.
Of course really, the raids are a frantic attempt to track down and neutralize anything and everything before something else bad happens. As Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on France Inter radio, "we don't know if there are accomplices in Belgium and in France... we still don't know the number of people involved in the attacks.”
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says more than 100 people have been placed under house arrest and dozens have been arrested in the sweeping crackdown. "Under a state of emergency – which has been in place since the attacks on Friday – security services, police have extra powers and freedom to make arrests, search houses and confiscate weapons without judicial oversight," The Sydney Morning Herald notes.
President Hollande told a joint session of the French parliament on Monday that "France is at war" and that he wants the state of emergency extended by three months. Hollande also proposed constitutional changes. As The Herald put it on Tuesday, Hollande wants “to create a new version of ‘exceptional measures’, giving the government some emergency powers available under martial law.” Here’s Le Monde (translated), noting that Hollande’s proposals mirror George Bush’s Patriot Act:

But that wants Francois Hollande, is "to provide an appropriate tool for founding taking exceptional measures, for a certain period without going through the state of siege nor deny civil liberties". Clearly, this would be a somewhat state of emergency "light" in terms of the powers granted to the State, but may last longer. A proposal which is not without recalling the "Patriot  Act" that the Bush administration had vote after September 11, 2001.

Here's the bullet point summary from BBC:

• Extension of state of emergency by three months
• Changes to the constitution to allow the government to revoke citizenship of any convicted terrorists of dual nationality. Currently only those born outside France and naturalised can lose their citizenship
• Measures to speed up expulsion of foreign nationals considered a threat to public order
• Budget increases and extra recruitment to security forces and judiciary

If some of that sounds like it could be a slippery slope to you, you're probably correct. "Those returning from Syria could be placed under house arrest," AFP reported, citing a government source.
Cazeneuve also said 115,000 security personnel have been mobilized in order to "ensure Frances security." The police officers, gendarmes and soldiers are being deployed across France. Hollande also evoked a never before used clause in the Treaty on EU which compels member nations to provide France with "aid and assistance by all means in their power"
Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean while French fighter jets pounded Raqqa for the second day in a row. Residents of the city (or "captives" as they might more appropriately be called given the fact that between ISIS and airstrikes they live in a perpetual state of paralysis), describe the last two nights as "insane." One activist who spoke to al-Jazeera described two "insane" nights and interestingly, also said that the French aren't really bombing anything and the only real damage is being done by the Russians:

However, a media activist in Raqqa, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that French air strikes had targeted abandoned ISIL bases in the suburbs of the city where there are no civilians or ISIL fighters. 

"It has been two insane nights. Abandoned ISIL posts were targeted at the entrance of the city, along with ISIL checkpoints and several other points. Electricity and water have been cut off as supply lines were hit too.

"We can confirm that there were no civilians killed or injured in the latest French air strikes.

The Syrian activist in Raqqa said that in the past few days Russian air strikes had caused the most destruction.

"Last week, Russian air strikes destroyed one of the main bridges in the city in addition to the national hospital. Most hospitals in the city have been destroyed in Raqqa," he said.

"Russian air strikes have resulted in so much destruction. If these countries wanted to bomb the heartland of ISIL, they could have done so. But they still have not targeted the group's most important bases.

"This is what we do not understand. The targets bombed by French warplanes were mostly abandoned by ISIL fighters.

"Raqqa is devastated. Raqqa has endured the unbearable and we live in fear under ISIL's dictatorship.

"A lot of people fled the the city. In fact, most refugees heading to Europe are from Raqqa.

A couple of things stand out here. First, note that according to the source cited above, the French (using US "intelligence") are hitting targets where there are no fighters. The Russians, on the other hand, are hitting anything and everything which could hint at what many have alluded to all along - namely that the US is either i) intentionally avoiding ISIS, ii) scared of collateral damage, or iii) some combination of both and that's now finding its way into French strikes via the provision of intelligence from Washington to Paris. Second, the Russians are the ones doing the real damage to ISIS although there is of course the allegation that they are targeting hospitals because these days, everyone has to accuse everyone else of bombing hospitals.
Finally, note that now, the French are doing exactly what they and other Western powers accused Russia of doing last month at Aleppo: exacerbating the migrant crisis by wreaking havoc on populated areas.
But we suppose they had no choice...

The First Question to Ask After Any Terror Attack: Was It a False Flag?

Numbers 1-47 here: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/11/the-first-question-to-ask-after-any-terror-attack-was-it-a-false-flag.html
(48) The highly-respected writer for the Telegraph Ambrose Evans-Pritchard says that the head of Saudi intelligence – Prince Bandar – recently admitted that the Saudi government controls “Chechen” terrorists.
(49) High-level American sources admitted that the Turkish government – a fellow NATO country – carried out the chemical weapons attacks blamed on the Syrian government; and high-ranking Turkish government admitted on tape plans to carry out attacks and blame it on the Syrian government.
(50) The Ukrainian security chief admits that the sniper attacks which started the Ukrainian coup were carried out in order to frame others. Ukrainian officials admit that the Ukrainian snipers fired on both sides, to create maximum chaos.
(51) Britain’s spy agency has admitted (and see this) that it carries out “digital false flag” attacks on targets, framing people by writing offensive or unlawful material … and blaming it on the target.
(52) U.S. soldiers have admitted that if they kill innocent Iraqis and Afghanis, they then “drop” automatic weapons near their body so they can pretend they were militants
(53) Similarly, police frame innocent people for crimes they didn’t commit. The practice is so well-known that the New York Times noted in 1981:

In police jargon, a throwdown is a weapon planted on a victim.

Newsweek reported in 1999:

Perez, himself a former [Los Angeles Police Department] cop, was caught stealing eight pounds of cocaine from police evidence lockers. After pleading guilty in September, he bargained for a lighter sentence by telling an appalling story of attempted murder and a “throwdown”–police slang for a weapon planted by cops to make a shooting legally justifiable. Perez said he and his partner, Officer Nino Durden, shot an unarmed 18th Street Gang member named Javier Ovando, then planted a semiautomatic rifle on the unconscious suspect and claimed that Ovando had tried to shoot them during a stakeout.

Wikipedia notes:

As part of his plea bargain, Pérez implicated scores of officers from the Rampart Division’s anti-gang unit, describing routinely beating gang members, planting evidence on suspects, falsifying reports and covering up unprovoked shootings.

(As a side note – and while not technically false flag attacks – police have been busted framing innocent people in many other ways, as well.)
(54) A former U.S. intelligence officer recently alleged:

Most terrorists are false flag terrorists or are created by our own security services.

(55) The head and special agent in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office said that most terror attacks are committed by the CIA and FBI as false flags.  Similarly, the director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan – Lt. General William Odom said:

By any measure the US has long used terrorism. In ‘78-79 the Senate was trying to pass a law against international terrorism – in every version they produced, the lawyers said the US would be in violation.

(audio here).
(56) Leaders throughout history have acknowledged the “benefits” of of false flags to justify their political agenda:

“Terrorism is the best political weapon for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death”.
– Adolph Hitler
“Why of course the people don’t want war … But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship … Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
– Hermann Goering, Nazi leader.
“The easiest way to gain control of a population is to carry out acts of terror. [The public] will clamor for such laws if their personal security is threatened”.
– Josef Stalin

Postscript: Private parties – such as NBC News, as well as Muslims, Jews, Scientologists, African-Americans and Neo-Nazis – play this game as well.

'Disaster waiting to happen': 'Dustbin ship' with 25 tons of nuclear waste heading to Australia

Published time: 16 Oct, 2015 

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The general cargo ship BBC Shanghai © Tvabutzku1234 / Wikipedia

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A ship carrying 25 tons of nuclear waste has departed from France bound for Australia, despite environmentalists sounding the alarm. The critics say the 'dustbin ship' is not fit to carry hazardous cargo.

The BBC Shanghai departed this week from the port of Cherbourg in northern France with a load of nuclear waste. It originated at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and had been shipped in the 1990s and early 2000s to France for reprocessing. Now the plant in Beaumont-Hague near Cherbourg is sending it back to Australia's Port Kembla, south of Sydney, to be eventually stored at the Lucas Heights nuclear facility, on the outskirts of the Australia’s largest city.
But some environmentalists and legislators believe the vessel should not be used to handle the hazardous cargo at all and objected to its selection by the French nuclear firm Areva. They believe the 14-year-old ship with the waste on board would be a sort of floating Fukushima – unable to withstand a serious emergency.
"Areva, almost bankrupt, are using a dustbin ship to carry waste, without any serious inspection!" Denis Baupin, a senior lawmaker with the French Green Party, tweeted.
“It’s outrageous that the BBC Shanghai is heading towards Australia and it is not outfitted to safely carry nuclear waste,” said Emma Gibson, head of program for Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
“What we have is a vessel that will be ill-equipped to deal with any sort of accident involving the nuclear waste. It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen.”
She added that the vessel owned by German firm BBC Chartering was "blacklisted by the United States because of its safety record."
But Areva's external relations director Bernard Monnot told AFP that the ship was "not banned from ports in the United States, but banned from transporting material for the American government."
ANSTO said BBC Shanghai went through “a full inspection carried out by both French maritime safety authorities and by the French nuclear safety regulator...” and that “the ship's seaworthiness was confirmed and certified."
The ship with its dangerous cargo is to arrive in Australia on 27 November.

Western Propaganda Machine Kicks Into Overdrive As UK Brands Assad "A Butcher", France Bombs Syria In "Self Defense"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/27/2015 21:05 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-27/western-propaganda-machine-kicks-overdrive-uk-brands-assad-butcher-france-bombs-syri
On Sunday, France proudly announced that it had launched its first strikes against ISIS targets in Syria. Here’s The New York Times:

In France’s first airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, warplanes destroyed a training camp, President François Hollande announced on Sunday.

At a news conference in New York, where he had arrived for the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Hollande said that the warplanes had attacked the training camp in eastern Syria after it had been identified by French air surveillance with help from the coalition of Western and Middle Eastern states conducting the air campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh.

“Our forces reached their objectives: the camp was completely destroyed,” Mr. Hollande said. “Six jets were used, including five Rafales, and they were able to ensure that our operation did not have 

He added that France might launch other strikes in the coming weeks if necessary, with the goal of “identifying targets that are training camps or places where we know that the Daesh terrorist group can threaten the security of our country.”

Prime Minister Manuel Valls also confirmed to reporters in southeastern France on Sunday that the airstrikes had taken place.

“We are striking Daesh in Syria because this terrorist organization prepares and organizes attacks in France from Syria, from these sanctuaries,” Mr. Valls said. “We are therefore acting in self-defense, which Article 51 of the United Nations Charter permits us to do.”

Got that? Paris needs to bomb Syria in "self defense" because clearly, a ragtag group of militants who only exist because they're still a useful tool in Washington's geopolitical calculus, pose a very real threat to the territorial integrity of France, one of the most influential nations on the face of the earth.
Obviously, that is absurd to the point that it's almost not worth mentioning were it not for the fact that France's involvement comes as Britain is also set to step up its own "anti-ISIS" air raids in Syria.
In short, both France and Britain are ramping up their involvement in Syria's civil war just as Russia, Iran, and China are set to bolster the Assad regime. As we've detailed exhaustively, the West is now finding it almost impossible to maintain the narrative. Russia and Iran both have an interest in ensuring that Assad does not fall which means that by default, they also have an interest in eradicating the Sunni extremists operating in Syria. That's extremely inconvenient for Washington and its allies given that the US has gone out of its way to portray ISIS as the greatest threat to human decency since the Third Reich. Now, Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus have effectively said the following: "Yes, you're right, so why won't you join us in defeating them?"
So far, the West's response has been to suggest that somehow, Russia's efforts to defeat anti-regime forces in Syria will serve to embolden terrorists. For instance, here's what British think tank Royal United Services Institute has to say:

The deployment of Russian troops in Syria could end up helping Islamic State as they have been sent to areas where they are most likely to fight other groups opposed to Isis, according to a new report.

Essentially, the contention there is that Russia should not attempt to eradicate one group of extremists because in doing so, they might inadvertenlty help other extremists. If you applied that logic to sports, it would be the equivalent of saying no one should ever try to win, because by defeating one opposing team, you might indirectly improve the position of another opposing team.
As ridiculous as that is, the one thing you can say about the West and foreign policy is that things can always get more ridiculous and with that in mind, we bring you the following from U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron (via Bloomberg): 

Bashar al-Assad should face a criminal trial, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said, while keeping open the possibility the Syrian president could temporarily remain in power to oversee a transition to a more inclusive government.

Cameron made the comments on Sunday as he flew to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where he’ll meet with other leaders to discuss possible solutions to the 4 1/2-year conflict that has seen Islamic State take control of parts of the Middle Eastern country and led to an exodus of millions of refugees.

"People who break international law should be subject to international law,” the prime minister told reporters traveling with him. “He’s butchered his own people, he’s helped create this conflict and this migration crisis, he’s one of the great recruiting sergeants for ISIL."

As we've said on a number of occasions, no one is arguing that Bashar al-Assad is the most benevolent leader in the history of statecraft, but when Western propaganda reaches the point where Syria's President is accused of being a "butcher" and, going still further, of facilitating the recruitment of the very people who are trying to oust him, the world should start asking questions.
At this point, if you're buying the Western narrative with regard to Syria, we suggest you refer to the clip shown below...

The US Military's Sexual-Assault Problem Is So Bad the UN Is Getting Involved

Several countries told the US its policies on justice for military sexual assault victims weren’t good enough.

—By Jenna McLaughlin

| Thu May 14, 2015

The UN Human Rights Council's review of the United States United Nations Logo Piotr Zajc/Shutterstock; SoldierJohn Gomez/Shutterstock

 http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/un-human-rights-council-us-military-do-better-victims-sexual-violence

The US military has a problem with sexual violence. That's the conclusion of the Universal Periodic Review Panel, a UN panel that aims to address the human rights records of the 193 UN member states. This is the second time that the panel has scrutinized the United States; the first was in 2010, when the list of concerns included detention in Guantanamo Bay, torture, the death penalty, and access to health care. Its latest report came out Monday morning, and there was a surprising addition to the predictable laundry list of US human rights violations.
In one of 12 final recommendations, the UN Council urged the US military "to prevent sexual violence in the military and ensure effective prosecution of offenders and redress for victims." Other recommendations included stopping the militarization of police forces, closing Guantanamo Bay, ending the death penalty, and stopping NSA surveillance of citizens.
For years US lawmakers and activists have complained about sexual assault in the military, but this is the first time the United Nations has addressed the issue.
Representatives from Denmark and Slovenia were especially outspoken in their criticism of the United States for not doing enough to prevent and prosecute alleged cases of sexual assault. Vojislav Šuc, Slovenia's representative, encouraged the US to "redouble efforts to prevent sexual violence in the military and ensure protection of offenders and redress for victims."
Stephanie Schroeder, a military sexual-assault survivor who traveled to Geneva for the hearing, said in a press release, "Today's outcome shows that redress can be won before the UN—and hopefully lead to meaningful change back home."
The UN panels likely decided to investigate US military sexual violence in response to a report last year from the Service Women's Action Network and Cornell Law School's Avon Global Center for Women and Justice and the Global Gender Justice Clinic. It analyzed statistics from the Department of Defense, survivors' stories from federal cases, and interviews with survivors.
The report concluded, "In cases where an act of sexual assault has already been committed in the military, the U.S. oftentimes fails to promptly and impartially prosecute and effectively redress the assault and thereby violates servicemen and women's rights under international law."
The UN Human Rights Council evaluation targeted the military's reporting process, in which the decision of whether to prosecute cases of alleged sexual assault or harassment is left to superiors in the chain of command rather than an outsider with experience in sexual assault. For years, activists and lawmakers in the United States have tried to change this protocol—but leaders in the military have balked at bringing civilians into bases and military academies to investigate alleged assaults. Advocates say that commanders should not be in charge of handling these cases, since they are not trained in legal or criminal matters and often directly supervise both the victim and the perpetrator. Victims often are afraid to report the assault, fearing retribution or inaction. In a 2014 RAND Corporation survey of service members who reported sexual assaults, 62 percent of those who responded claimed they experienced social or professional retaliation after reporting unwanted sexual harassment, including being fired.
Denmark's representative to the UN Human Rights Council, Carsten Staur, recommended "removing from the chain of command the decision about whether to prosecute cases of alleged assault."  His comments marked the "first time that a human rights body has called upon the U.S. to remove key decision-making authority from the chain of command in cases alleging sexual violence," noted Liz Brundige, the Avon Global Center's director, in a press release.
The State Department, the Pentagon, and the US representative to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment on the council report.
When the UN Human Rights Council last reviewed the United States in 2010, the US government promised to respond to all of the recommendations—including improvements to health care, criminal justice, and other areas of concern—with a written report of goals. This year, the UN Human Rights Council commended the US for six areas of "positive achievement," including strengthening the social welfare system in the United States, creating a task force on 21st-century policing, taking some measures to address violence against women, upholding some of the rights of LGBT individuals, improving access to health care, and releasing details on CIA interrogation techniques. When the panel reviews the United States again, the US will have to update the United Nations on its progress on sexual assault in the military.
Of course, the problem of military sexual assault is not limited to the United States. Last year, Swedish UN official Anders Kompass leaked to French authorities an internal investigation detailing allegations that French soldiers on a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic raped children and traded food for sex. Kompass said that he leaked the report because he was concerned that the United Nations would not disclose its findings or take action. Just last week, after the report was revealed by the Guardian, French prosecutors launched an investigation into the allegations. The whistleblower is now under internal investigation, according to the UN secretary general's office, for a "serious breach in protocol" and risking victims' privacy. French President Francois Hollande has declared he "will be merciless" if the allegations are proven true.
 

Russia wants Paris to explain warship delivery delay

Tue Jan 13, 2015

Russia has demanded that France give an official explanation over its failure to deliver the first of two Mistral-class warships to Moscow under a 2011 deal, a military source in Moscow  says.
An official at Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said Moscow has written to France’s overseas arms exporter requesting a clarification, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Tuesday.
The unnamed official added that Moscow’s move could pave the way for legal action against Paris over its delivery delays.
"In order to determine our future decisions – whether we will go to court or give France more time – Russia must have a written explanation of the situation," the source said.
Based on the 2011 deal worth 1.2 billion euros (USD 1.5 billion), the delivery of the first ship was originally scheduled in October or November 2014 and the second in 2015, according to the AFP. However, in September last year, Paris said it was postponing the decision on the delivery of the first ship until November.
France has come under pressure from the United States and NATO to cancel the contract with Russia.
The US and the EU have accused Russia of destabilizing Ukraine and have imposed a number of sanctions against Russian and pro-Russia figures. Moscow, however, rejects the accusation.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on January 1 that the delivery would only take place if there were concrete signs of lasting peace in Ukraine.
If France decides not to deliver the two vessels, it faces a penalty of up to USD 3 billion for the non-delivery.

Martial law in France: 10,000 troops deployed into streets

January 13, 2015
France is mobilizing 10,000 troops to boost security, as security forces search for what the French prime minister called a “probable” accomplice to three days of bloodshed in and around Paris.
After a crisis meeting on Monday, Manuel Valls said the search is urgent because “the threat is still present” after the attacks that left 17 people dead – journalists at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, hostages at a kosher supermarket and three police officers.
All three attackers died on Friday in nearly simultaneous raids by security forces.
Video emerged on Sunday of one of the attackers explaining how the raids would unfold and police want to find the person who shot and posted the video.
Valls told BFM television on Monday that France is at war against “terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam”.

France will deploy nearly 5,000 security forces and police to protect the 700 Jewish schools in the country, Vall said.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, French defence minister, said the total number of deployed forces at high-risk areas across the country will reach 10,000.
Hunt for female suspect
In the days after the attacks, police launched a search operation to track down Hayat Boumedienne, the partner of her partner Amedy Coulibaly, one of the attackers.
Since then, it has been revealed that she was probably not in France at the time of the attacks.
Turkey‘s foreign minister said on Monday that Boumedienne crossed into Syria from Turkey on January 8.
Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu Agency on Monday that she arrived in Turkey from Madrid on January 2, before the attacks, and stayed at a hotel in Istanbul.
“She entered Turkey on January 2 from Madrid. There are images of her at the airport,” Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by state-run news agency Anatolia.
“Then she crossed into Syria on January 8. This is clear from the telephone records.”
He said Turkish authorities established that she had crossed into Syria on Thursday.
Thursday was also the day Coulibaly shot a policewoman to death on the outskirts of Paris, and a day after the Charlie Hebdo attack.
In France on Sunday an estimated 3.7 million people joined by dozens of world leaders marched in honour of the 17 people killed in the attacks.
Up to 1.6 million took part in the rally in Paris, among them family members of the 12 people killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack.
SEE ALSO: Charlie Hebdo police investigator commits suicide
Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2015/01/france-mobilises-10000-troops-charlie-hebdo-20151128525661106.html