Luc Michel (14 January 1958 – 1 April 2025) was a Belgian political activist. He was the leader and founder of the Parti Communautaire National-Européen (PCN). According to research by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and Logically, he was also behind Russosphere, a French-language African social network and

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

network spreading pro-Russian and anti-Western propaganda in Africa. He was also nicknamed the "white Pan-Africanist". He was an advisor to

Pierre Nkurunziza Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 1964 – 8 June 2020) was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020. A member of the Hutu, Hutu ethnic group, Nkurunziza ...

in Burundi.

Early life

Luc Michel was born on 14 January 1958, and hailed from

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

. In his youth, Michel was a member of '' Front de la Jeunesse'', a private militia group on the extreme right.

Career

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 Daniel Féret (; born 7 August 1944 in Momignies) is a Belgian politician most noted as founder and long-term leader of the National Front. Féret worked as a physician.David Art, ''Inside the Radical Right: The Development of Anti-Immigrant Pa ...

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, following the failure of his National Front initiative. Michel has been leader since its foundation, although following the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

he convinced his mentor Thiriart to become a member. Thiriart died soon afterwards. In 2014, Michel and Jean-Pierre Vandersmissen, as representatives of a group called the

Eurasian Observatory for Democracy and Elections Eurasian Observatory for Democracy and Elections (EODE) is a Russia-based Eurasianist non-governmental organization which on its website claims that it monitors elections. According to its website, it specializes in the "self-proclaimed republics ...

, acted as observers of the Crimean status referendum.European right-wing extremists and other pro-Russian activists "observed" the Crimean "referendum"
,

Searchlight magazine ''Searchlight'' is a British magazine, founded in 1975 by Gerry Gable and Maurice Ludmer, which publishes Investigative journalism, exposés about racism, antisemitism and fascism in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. ''Searchlights main focus ...

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.

Pro-Russian propaganda campaigns

In early 2023, the

and Logically identified Michel as the creator of Russosphere, a French-language social media campaign that pushes pro-Russian propaganda in Africa. Russosphere first emerged in mid-2021, but was fully launched in February 2022, prior to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. It amassed over 65,000 followers on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, as well as

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

and VK. The network's posts typically accuse France of modern-day "

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

", describe the Ukrainian army as "Nazis" and "Satanists", and praise the

Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...

, 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. 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.

Death

Michel died following a long illness on 1 April 2025, at the age of 67. He had been hospitalized for several months.

Ideology

Michel was a supporter of

National Bolshevism National Bolshevism, whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks and colloquially as Nazbols, is a syncretic political movement committed to combining ultranationalism and Bolshevik communism. History and origins In Germany Natio ...

and described himself as a "national communist". He created a number of peridocials that stressed opposition to

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

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 Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov (; born 26 June 1944) is a Russian politician who has been the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and served as Member of the State Duma since 1993. He is also the Chair of the Union ...

, leader of the

Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...

, in this endeavour. 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. In his writing Michel expressed admiration for several developing world figures, including

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

, Juan Peron,

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

and

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-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. Michel had links with several members of

Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang (; ; VB) is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the polit ...

, including Frank Creyelman.

Publications

*''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''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Luc 1958 births 2025 deaths Belgian activists National Bolsheviks