A likely candidate for France’s 2027 presidential election said on Tuesday that Russia’s military intelligence agency launched a disinformation campaign targeting him, in the latest sign of Kremlin efforts to influence European democratic processes.
Raphael Glucksmann, a center-left member of the European Parliament, said the French Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security informed him of a “Russian operation” that was “directly controlled by the GRU.” The revelation came just days after former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, already a confirmed presidential candidate, was also reportedly targeted by Russian disinformation.
The alleged campaign against Glucksmann involved an article posted on a website mimicking well-known left-wing news outlet Blast, along with a social media clip claiming his partner Lea Salame, the host of French public television’s prime-time news program, had tried bribing other journalists to speak about his candidacy favorably.
“Russian agencies have begun operations to destabilize the 2027 presidential election,” Glucksmann wrote on social media. “This attack is merely a foretaste of what is to come.” Glucksmann is a prominent critic of the Russian government who participated in the 2013 Maidan uprising in Kyiv, making him a frequent target of Kremlin-linked disinformation.
The incidents underscore the scale of foreign interference attempts targeting European elections. President Emmanuel Macron has said safeguarding the 2027 presidential race from foreign meddling would be a top priority for his final months in office, with French intelligence services stepping up monitoring of both Russian and other state-backed influence operations.
The Russian Embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Glucksmann, who has not yet formally declared his candidacy, is expected to announce his decision in the coming weeks as the French political landscape ahead of 2027 continues to take shape.
Separately, several local candidates from the left-wing France Unbowed movement were allegedly targeted by an Israeli firm earlier this year, highlighting the breadth of foreign interference concerns across the political spectrum in France.
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