French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has warned in drastic terms against Russian interference in the internal affairs of other states. “This interference could be our new world war,” Attal said on Thursday in an interview with the radio station France 2. “This is manipulation from outside that is trying to divide us.”
“These interferences are a poison,” Attal continued. “It is a poison that tries to manipulate public opinion, that tries to divide us, that tries to compromise our security with a new form, a hybrid form.”
On Wednesday, the French National Assembly passed a law that strengthens the means of combating foreign interference. A national register of influence and a procedure for freezing financial assets will be created. In addition, digital surveillance procedures that have so far only been used in the fight against terrorism will also be able to be used against illegal influence.
Prime Minister Attal cited the placement of Stars of David on several buildings in the greater Paris area shortly after the start of the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas as examples of Russian influence.
Red hands were also sprayed on the Holocaust memorial in Paris and coffins bearing the French flag and the words “French soldiers of Ukraine” appeared under the Eiffel Tower last weekend. In all of these cases, French security authorities suspect that the Russian secret service is involved.
On Wednesday, the French anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office also announced investigations into a man with Russian and Ukrainian nationality on suspicion of planning a violent act with explosives. The 26-year-old is said to have inflicted head injuries on himself while handling explosives in a hotel room near Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday evening. According to investigators, the man, who comes from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, is said to have “fought for the Russian army for two years.”