The French Foreign Ministry has had complaints about the procedure for obtaining French citizenship for Pavel Durov — Le Monde
According to the newspaper, when considering his request, the service considered that the conditions for issuing a passport to an “outstanding citizen” had not been met. While Durov confirmed his fluency in French, he also had to demonstrate that he was contributing to the “influence of France.” The naturalization of influential foreigners is usually requested by high-ranking officials.
Durov and Macron met several times, according to his naturalization application, but Macron's entourage claims there were only “one or two” such meetings and did not explain their purpose.