France hopes Russia won't interfere in forthcoming presidential elections
The French leadership hopes that Russia will not interfere in the presidential elections in 2022 but Paris is under no illusions about the practices of hacking and information attacks that Russia uses against other countries, said in an interview with LB.ua Pierre Person, a member of the French National Assembly and one of the closest associates of President Emmanuel Macron.
"In 2017 and 2018, during a meeting with the Russian leadership, President Macron made it clear that such interference is unacceptable. I hope that in 2022 these acts will not be repeated. At the same time, I think that we should not have illusions about the practices that exist today," the politician said.
Another representative of Macron's “La République En Marche!” party, Buon Tan, stressed that Russia is allocating more and more funds every year to interfere in the security system of other states. The politician believes that France should be ready for this.
"We really shouldn't be fooled about such practices of interference. We see that Russia is investing more and more efforts and resources in this direction. France is also adapting, increasing its defense capabilities and countermeasures," Tan said.
At the same time, Person, who, incidentally, became a target of Russian hackers in the presidential elections in 2017, said that France may need Ukraine's experience in establishing digital security systems to counter Russia.
In 2017, after the first round of elections in France, Macron accused Russia of meddling in his campaign through cyberattacks and refused to provide accreditation to Russian news agencies RT and Sputnik, accusing them of publishing fake news.
In early 2018, the European Parliament called for sanctions against Russia because of the interference in the elections.