French presidential
frontrunner Emmanuel Macron is being targeted by Russian media and internet
attacks from within Russia with the goal of helping the election campaigns
of his pro-Moscow rivals, his party chief said on Monday.
of his pro-Moscow rivals, his party chief said on Monday.
The comments by
Richard Ferrand, secretary-general of Macron's En Marche! (Onwards!) party,
marked the first direct accusation from a French political party that forces in
Russia were trying to influence the outcome of the May election.
Ferrand, who said
Moscow looked favorably on the policies of far-right leader Marine Le Pen and
center-right candidate Francois Fillon, urged the government to take steps to
ensure there was no "foreign meddling" in the election.
Drawing a parallel
with the U.S. presidential election in which U.S. intelligence agencies saw the
hand of the Kremlin, he said: "The Americans saw it, but it came too
late."
Ferrand's comments
came against the backdrop of an electoral campaign of smears in which several
big names have fallen off the radar, while conservative candidate Fillon went
from frontrunner to also-ran due to a scandal involving his family.
Macron, an
independent centrist, surged into the gap to become favorite to win the May 7
second-round against Le Pen, who is anti-EU and supports Russian policy on
Ukraine.
A Feb. 4 report by
the French language version of online Russian news agency Sputnik quoted the
pro-Putin center-right French legislator Nicolas Dhuicq as saying Macron was a
puppet of U.S. political and financial elites and that revelations about his private
life would soon be made public.
The report appeared
to play a part in Macron being forced on Feb. 7 to kill rumors of an
extra-marital gay relationship.
Ferrand told France
2 television that Russia Today and Sputnik, Russian state-controlled media, had
spread "fake news" with the aim of swinging public opinion against
Macron. He said Macron was a target due to his pro-Europe policies.
"It is clear
that the far-right and the right and their candidates are rather well regarded
(in Russia) while we call for a strong Europe, a powerful Europe. It is
obvious, objectively, that a certain number of Russian media clearly don't want
that," he said.
Fillon, who has seen
his lead evaporate amid a "fake jobs" scandal involving his wife, has
spoken positively about improving relations with Russia.
"FAKE
NEWS"
Russian state-funded
media deny acting as the propaganda arm of the Kremlin. They say they present
an alternative viewpoint that is ignored by the mainstream Western media.
A Sputnik spokesman
could not immediately be contacted for comment.
In the report in
Sputnik, Dhuicq accused Macron, a former investment banker, of being an agent
of "the big American banking system."
"Two big media
outlets belonging to the Russian state Russia Today and Sputnik spread fake
news on a daily basis, and then they are picked up, quoted and influence the
democratic (process)," Ferrand said.
Ferrand said
Macron's campaign was being hit by "hundreds if not thousands" of
attacks on its networks, databases and sites from locations inside Russia.
"What we want
is for authorities at the highest level to take the matter in hand to guarantee
that there is no foreign meddling in our democracy," Ferrand said.
U.S. intelligence
agencies said in a report last month that Russian President Vladimir Putin had
directed a cyber campaign to help Republican Donald Trump's electoral chances
by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.
French Defence
Minister Jean Yves Le Drian has warned of "cyber destabilization" and
media reports say defense and security agencies are due to meet soon under
President Francois Hollande on the issue. The Elysee has so far not confirmed
any such meeting.
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