France warned to be on lookout for Russian meddling

French public are being asked to contact authorities if they see any evidence of Russian tricks before the Paris Olympics this year.

A message from the French intelligence service DGSI has asked the police to not ignore any signs of possible activities by Russian agents, even if they seem not very strong. French intelligence service said Russian supporters could use important topics to make disagreements in French society worse.

Other European countries have also experienced similar fake news campaigns.

According to the note, Russian intelligence is using different methods to get other people to help them interfere with things.

Many of these ‘proxies’ are people from Russian-speaking communities in Eastern Europe. Some are just visiting France for a short time, while others have been living there for a long time, either legally or illegally.

In France last October, someone sprayed Stars of David on walls. This was similar to other ways people were causing trouble in French society. It happened right after gunmen from the group Hamas attacked Israel and killed over 1,200 people.

The note says that the Russian campaign is trying to make disagreements and problems within French society bigger by talking about different topics like pension reform and saying bad things about the Olympic Games.

The DGSI says that with the current world situation and as France gets ready to host the Olympic Games, the police need to be very alert and respond quickly if they see any Russian activity.

The French government thinks that people from Moldova who speak Russian were behind the Stars of David operation, and they believe the Russian state security agency was in charge of it.

According to Le Monde newspaper, quoting another report from DGSI, the graffiti was part of a campaign across Europe to create disagreements and make governments less strong. This campaign was started by the FSB’s Fifth Division, which handles international operations.

The memo says that other lies spread by people from Moldova have happened in Poland, Spain, Latvia, and Germany.

The French government is talking more about Russia and trying to make people in France and other European countries more aware of the danger.

President Macron talked about sending soldiers to Ukraine for the first time at a meeting in Paris on Monday. He did not say no to the idea. The next day, his German colleague Olaf Scholz and Nato General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg disagreed with this idea.

Officials from Elysée said that there is a growing threat of “Russian aggression” in the internet and spreading fake news using aggressive and simple tactics.

The officials mentioned a fake report that President Macron canceled a visit to Ukraine because of a planned assassination. The report was spread on pro-Russian social media, pretending to be from the international channel France 24.

The French government has a new campaign called “Russian Disinformation” and it wants the public to be aware and report any false information they see. They believe that reporting false information is important in fighting against it.