France vows zero tolerance for foreign interference ahead of presidential election

France will not tolerate foreign interference in its democratic or electoral processes, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot warned Friday after alleged pro-Russian destabilization campaigns targeted several potential presidential candidates.

“France will not tolerate any attempt at foreign interference in its democratic debate, let alone in its electoral processes,” Barrot said on the US social media company X, eight months before the presidential election.

His remarks came after Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed party, accused the government of failing to respond firmly to outside influence and described the presidential race as “an open bar for all the manipulators of the world.”

According to French broadcaster BFMTV, a series of operations attributed to pro-Russian networks targeted three declared or potential candidates within days.

Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was the subject of false claims concerning his health, while European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann was targeted through allegations involving his partner, journalist Lea Salame.

Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was also falsely portrayed as potentially suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Barrot, however, distinguished foreign interference from public comments by foreign political figures expressing support for or opposition to political positions in another country, saying such remarks did not alone amount to manipulation of democratic debate.

His comments followed a dispute between Marine Tondelier, leader of the French Greens and a presidential candidate, and Elon Musk. The US billionaire accused Tondelier on Thursday of “treason against France” after she supported suspending access to X during the election campaign.

“What we must be uncompromising in the face of are attempts to falsify our democratic debate through the inauthentic, coordinated and organized online promotion of messages conceived and constructed abroad” to influence the election, Barrot said.

He added that regulating major digital platforms should form part of the response.