Macron warns of Russian ‘hybrid’ threat after meeting presidential hopefuls
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron warned Friday (Sep 18) of the growing threat posed by Moscow’s shadow operations across Europe, saying he had ordered measures to protect France’s critical infrastructure from Russian “hybrid attacks”. Macron also vowed that Russia’s attacks on French soil would not go unanswered, speaking after talks with presidential hopefuls and party leaders ahead of the April-May election. “The Russian hybrid threat against Europeans and against France has intensified,” Macron told journalists. The meeting with France’s political leaders, held in the Elysee Palace’s crisis room, was intended to brief attendees on confidential French intelligence assessments of the current security challenges. Nicolas Lerner, head of France’s foreign intelligence service DGSE, and Celine Berthon, head of France’s domestic intelligence agency DGSI, attended. Also present were more than a dozen presidential hopefuls and other senior politicians including centrists Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal as well as Jordan Bardella, head of the far-right National Rally party. The National Rally’s presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is leading in the polls, and hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon were …
