To:

• Mr Alan James, Chief Executive Officer of Sail Training International and TSRIL.
• Mr Jan G. van der Burg, Chair of Tall Ships Races International Limited (TSRIL).
• Ms Vanessa Mori, Deputy CEO/Commercial Director of Sail Training International
• Ms Magda Makowska, Race Director and Race Operations Committee Secretary of Sail Training International
• Ms Alison Weston, Finance Manager of Sail Training International

Subject: How did « Les Amis des Grands Voiliers – Sail Training Association France » deviate from its mandate and damage its reputation by promoting an illicit circumvention of EU sanctions ?

31 July 2025

Dear Sir/Madam,

In July 2025, the sanctioned Russian ship Shtandart gave those in doubt ample opportunity to verify that Russian restrictive measures applied to this vessel. The EU port ban was enforced in the French departments of Ille-et-Vilaine (Saint-Malo) and Côtes d’Armor (Saint-Cast-le-Guildo), as well as in Ireland and Denmark. The Shtandart was also banned from entering ports in Jersey, and Great Britain. Earlier, in addition to the port bans, Spain expelled the Shtandart on 27 July 2024, banning it from its territorial waters due to violations committed by the Russian vessel.

The ship’s arrival in La Rochelle, France, on 8 June 2022, when the European ban had been in place for two months, was largely made possible thanks to intense lobbying from Les Amis des Grands Voiliers – Sail Training Association France, led by Michel Balique, the association’s president, and networks mobilised for this purpose. Michel Balique is an ardent propagandist for Vladimir Martus, the captain and hidden owner of the Shtandart. He has presented Martus as an ‘opponent of the Russian regime’, despite the fact that he is close to the presidential administration and Russian propaganda agencies. Balique’s main partner in this endeavour was Patrice Bernier, a local dockmaster. Bernier is also an “administrateur” (director) of the same association.

The association’s efforts extended beyond merely bringing the Russian ship to France. On its behalf, Michel Balique sought out commercial opportunities for the Shtandart at maritime events, continually encouraging and defending the circumvention of sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The situation became so severe that, on 24 June 2024, the European Council admonished France.

Les Amis des Grands Voiliers – Sail Training France is a co-founder of Sail Training International and remains one of its members. In France, it claims to represent tall ships. Complicity in circumventing sanctions is punishable by criminal prosecution: EU, Directive 2024/1226 of 24 April 2024; France, Customs Regulation, Article 459. This could, at the very least, target Michel Balique and Les Amis des Grands Voiliers – Sail Training France. Please read the alarming summary produced by ChatGPT concerning Les Amis des Grands Voiliers – Sail Training France and the Shtandart case below. 

I remain at your disposal for any further detailed information concerning this fraud, which we have been investigating for three years.

Yours sincerely,

Bernard Grua
Former French Navy Officer
Spokesperson

Attachment ChatGPT answer

Here’s how Michel Balique ridiculed and discredited the association Les Amis des Grands Voiliers — Sail Training Association France (AGV):

🎭 Summary of the Ridicule and Discrediting

1. Lobbying Allegations and Dishonesty

• Critics, notably the blog No Shtandart In Europe led by Bernard Grua, accuse Balique and AGV of serving as a lobby for the Russian vessel Shtandart, enabling it to circumvent EU sanctions during the 2022‑2025 conflict period [1].
• Balique is portrayed as misusing the association’s name and network to promote the ship and its owner, rather than pursuing AGV’s mission of Sail Training and friendship across nations [1], [2].

2. Arguments Stripped of Substance

• In his public responses (e.g. 4 July 2022, 3 January 2025), Balique is accused of resorting to personal insults, grandiloquent rhetoric, distortion of facts, and repeated deflections — including calling critics “idiots” or “anti‑Russia primaries” — instead of engaging on substance [3].
• Rather than address legal or regulatory concerns, he deploys ad hominem attacks, claims defamation, and accuses opponents of hatred and racism for raising sanctions-related issues [4].

3. Mockery of European Institutions

• He dismisses decisions made by French and EU authorities, including a November 2024 Conseil d’État ruling, calling them “ridiculous” and “absolute nonsense” (“Connerie absolue”) — a tone critics view as both disrespectful and poorly reasoned [5].
• Bernard Grua’s writings emphasize that AGV under Balique diverged sharply from its original apolitical purpose and instead actively aided a Russian propaganda ship in violation of EU law [2].

In Concrete Terms: How the Ridicule Was Waged

| Mode of Ridicule | Description |

• Hyperbole & Name‑calling | Labeling critics as “idiots”, “anti‑Russia primaries”, or “pure souche” French, invoking nationalist clichés [3]
• Dismissal of Critics’ Legality Arguments| Referring to legal interventions and sanctions enforcement as “diffamation”, “haine”, “appels à la violence”, or “racisme anti‑russe” [6], [5]
• Grandstanding without Proof| Presenting himself in lofty terms but failing to provide factual evidence or technical justification that the Shtandart was legally cleared to dock in EU ports [7], [8]

🔍 Why This Discredits the Association

• Misalignment with Mandate: AGV was created to promote tall ship sail training across cultures — Balique’s actions are seen as politicizing the group and using it for pro‑Russian activism [2], [1].
• Reputational Damage: Labelled by critics as a “network of influence” or even complicit in fraud, AGV’s credibility has been seriously undermined by what amounts to servile advocacy for a sanctioned vessel [1], [2].
• Intellectual Vacuity: The repeated use of insults or gross generalizations instead of legal reasoning portrays Balique — and through him, AGV — as intellectually unserious in the public debate [4], [7].

✅ Bottom Line

Michel Balique ridiculed and discredited Les Amis des Grands Voiliers primarily by converting its platform into a pro‑Shtandart lobbying machine, repeatedly dodging substantive legal critique, and replacing it with rhetorical excess and personal invective. The result, according to critics, was to tarnish the association’s founders’ intentions and academic legitimacy, presenting it as complicit in illicit circumvention of EU sanctions.

Notes

1. “Michel Balique, président de l’association des Amis des Grands Voiliers, et le « Shtandart » — No Shtandart In Europe”
2. “Amis des Grands Voiliers, Michel Balique canonne Ouest-France et fait plouf. — No Shtandart In Europe”
3. “« Shtandart »: l’ukrainophobie de Michel Balique, président de l’association « Les Amis des Grands Voiliers » et VRP de Vladimir Martus — No Shtandart In Europe”
4. “Shtandart : une diatribe de Michel Balique, président de l’association “Amis des Grands Voiliers”, 03/01/2025 | Medium”
5. “Shtandart : les vérités de Michel Balique, président de l’association « Amis des grands voiliers » — No Shtandart In Europe”
6. “Pourquoi Michel Balique, président de l’association « Amis des grands voiliers », est-il devenu un dégât collatéral du navire russe « Shtandart » ? — No Shtandart In Europe”
7. “Michel Balique, président de l’association « Amis des Grands Voiliers », lance une nouvelle charge contre les détracteur du navire russe “Shtandart”, 04/07/2022. | Medium”
8. “Michel Balique, président Amis des Grands Voiliers: Accueillir le Shtandart — 21/03/2022 | Medium”

Michel Balique, Patrice Bernier and Vladimir Martus

Screen captures from ChatGPT