Luc Michel

Luc Michel was born on 14 January 1958,{{Cite news |date=1 February 2023 |title=Russia in Africa: How disinformation operations target the continent |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64451376 |access-date=15 April 2023}} and hailed from Charleroi.{{Cite web |last1=Albertini |first1=Dominique |last2=Benetti |first2=Pierre |title=Burundi : Fachosphère d'influence |url=https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2016/08/01/burundi-fachosphere-d-influence_1469773/ |access-date=16 February 2023 |website=Libération |language=fr}} In his youth, Michel was a member of Front de la Jeunesse, a private militia group on the extreme right.

Michel first came to prominence when he served as Thiriart's personal secretary.Martin A. Lee, The Beast Reawakens, Warner Books, p. 479 Inspired by the success of Jean-Marie LePen in France, Michel attempted to establish a group using the National Front name in 1984, but this proved unsuccessful. A more long-lasting Belgian National Front was established by Daniel Féret the following year, although Michel took no role in this group due to a strong personal antipathy towards Féret.David Art, Inside the Radical Right: The Development of Anti-Immigrant Parties in Western Europe, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 68

He established the PCN in 1984,{{Cite web|url=https://www.axt.org.uk/|title=Escorts London Girls Services|website=Escorts London Girls Services|accessdate=10 April 2023}} following the failure of his National Front initiative. Michel has been leader since its foundation, although following the collapse of the Soviet Union he convinced his mentor Thiriart to become a member.Stephen E. Atkins, Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004, p. 321 Thiriart died soon afterwards.

In 2014, Michel and Jean-Pierre Vandersmissen, as representatives of a group called the Eurasian Observatory for Democracy and Elections, acted as observers of the Crimean status referendum.[http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/news/featured-news/european-right-wing-extremists-and-other-pro-russian-activists-observed-the-crimean-referendum European right-wing extremists and other pro-Russian activists "observed" the Crimean "referendum"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324225142/http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/news/featured-news/european-right-wing-extremists-and-other-pro-russian-activists-observed-the-crimean-referendum |date=24 March 2014 }}, Searchlight magazine

Luc Michel worked for "Afrique Media TV", Luc Michel presented himself as a "geopolitics expert" during interviews on African media and wrote "analyses" which also appeared on African television channels and Afrique media.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rtbf.be/article/un-belge-a-la-tete-d-un-media-de-propagande-prorusse-nous-allons-gagner-la-guerre-de-l-information-11331483|title=Un Belge à la tête d'un média de propagande prorusse : "Nous allons gagner la guerre de l'information"|website=rtbf.be|accessdate=13 April 2025}}

{{Further information|Disinformation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine}}

In early 2023, the BBC and Logically identified Michel as the creator of Russosphere, a French-language social media campaign that pushes pro-Russian propaganda in Africa.{{Cite web |last1=Walter |first1=Kyle |last2=Backovic |first2=Nick |title=Kremlin-Tied Propagandists Spearhead New Influence Operations |url=https://www.logically.ai/resources/kremlin-tied-propagandists-spearhead-new-influence-operations |access-date=15 April 2023 |website=Logically |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Bond |first=Shannon |date=1 February 2023 |title=A pro-Russian social media campaign is trying to influence politics in Africa |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/01/1152899845/a-pro-russian-social-media-campaign-is-trying-to-influence-politics-in-africa |access-date=15 April 2023 |website=NPR}} Russosphere first emerged in mid-2021, but was fully launched in February 2022, prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It amassed over 65,000 followers on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, as well as Telegram and VK. The network's posts typically accuse France of modern-day "colonialism", describe the Ukrainian army as "Nazis" and "Satanists", and praise the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company. Logically researcher Kyle Walter said that Russosphere relied on legitimate grievances African countries have with France and Belgium to promote Russia as a better alternative.{{Cite web |date=3 February 2023 |title=Investigating the 'Russosphere' – the Russian propaganda campaign targeting Africa |url=https://www.france24.com/en/video/20230203-investigating-the-russosphere-%E2%80%93-the-russian-propaganda-campaign-targeting-africa |access-date=15 April 2023 |website=France 24 |language=en}}

Logically also identified Michel as being involved in the "Republic of Detroit" movement, a campaign to create a breakaway republic in the United States. Walter said that while the movement was a "weird sideshow" without much impact or influence, its message echoed that of Russosphere, and described it as Russia's "firehose model" of propaganda.

Michel died following a long illness on 1 April 2025, at the age of 67. He had been hospitalized for several months.{{cite web |url=https://actucameroun.com/2025/04/03/necrologie-deces-du-celebre-consultant-dafrique-media-luc-michel/ |title=Nécrologie : décès du célèbre consultant d'Afrique Media Luc Michel |work=actucameroun.com |date=3 April 2025 |access-date=12 April 2025}}

Michel was a supporter of National Bolshevism and described himself as a "national communist".Lee, p. 319 He created a number of peridocials that stressed opposition to Zionism and the United States.Pierre-André Taguieff, La Judéophobie des Modernes: Des Lumières au Jihad mondial, Odile Jacob, 2008, p. 638 He was a lawyer by profession, he also wrote extensively on his political ideas. He claimed to have the support of Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in this endeavour.{{Cite web|url=http://uk.geocities.com/c.meade@btopenworld.com/Thiriart.htm|title=Thiriart|date=27 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427102410/http://uk.geocities.com/c.meade@btopenworld.com/Thiriart.htm |accessdate=10 April 2023|archive-date=27 April 2006 }}

He advocated the idea of a "Eurasian axis" between China, Russia, and Iran as an alternative to Western hegemony, and called for an international tribunal in China to prosecute colonial crimes.{{cite web |url=https://burundi-agnews.org/presidence/necrologie-luc-michel-geopoliticien-et-panafricaniste-ami-du-burundi-seteint-a-66-ans/ |title=Nécrologie : Luc Michel, géopoliticien et panafricaniste, ami du Burundi, s’éteint à 66 |work=burundi-agnews.org |date=15 April 2025|access-date=15 April 2025}}

In his writing Michel expressed admiration for several developing world figures, including Che Guevara, Juan Peron, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. His attraction to the latter led him to establish the Mouvement Européen pour la Démocratie Directe, a think tank inspired by the Third International Theory. Michel established contact with the Libyan regime and in August 2003 organised with their help the quatrieme universite d'ete pour les mouvements verts, pacifistes et alternatifs en Europe as an attempt to encourage co-operation between elements of the far right and the far left.Taguieff, La Judéophobie des Modernes, p. 639

Michel had links with several members of Vlaams Belang, including Frank Creyelman.{{cite web |url=https://www.lalibre.be/international/europe/2024/02/18/un-belge-derriere-un-important-reseau-de-propagande-russe-MOIVQHVJR5FPZBHD3E7AQNJEJE/ |title=Un Belge derrière un important réseau de propagande russe |work=lalibre.be |date=18 February 2024|access-date=13 April 2025}}

• Le Parti Historique Révolutionnaire
• Orientations NR
• Manifeste à la Nation-Europe
• Pour une Europe unitaire et communautaire
• Mythes et réalités du national-bolchévisme (Russie, Allemagne, Europe)
• La résistance allemande anti-hitlérienne
• Moammar Kadhafi et la révolution lybienne

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.lucmichel.net/}}

{{Fascism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Luc}}

Category:1958 births

Category:2025 deaths

Category:Belgian activists

Category:National Bolsheviks