French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot accused billionaire and owner of the social network X Elon Musk of organizing large-scale online harassment campaigns against European leaders. He also warned of the danger of foreign interference in the presidential elections in France in 2027, AFP reports, News.bg reports.
Barrot said that France would respond to such actions and warned that on the eve of the elections in April and May “the enemies of democracy will do everything possible to destabilize us“. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, he said, has a serious chance of winning the presidency.
During a conference organized by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the minister pointed out that external actors are exploiting societal divisions and sensitive issues such as immigration, the secular nature of the state and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to incite hatred and tension.
Barrot also said that an Israeli company, whose name he did not specify, had created fake French profiles to publish content on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also criticized Musk's actions, describing them as large-scale online harassment campaigns against European leaders with the aim of influencing national debates through the social network X.
The statements come against the backdrop of student protests that have been ongoing in France for several weeks. Barrot expressed dissatisfaction with publications about the demonstrations, which he said were accompanied by hostile statements from Russia, China, Iran and among supporters of US President Donald Trump, known as the MAGA movement.
Last week, Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social that what is happening in France is the result of “mass migration out of control“. In response, Musk told his 241.5 million followers on X that it was “a slow-motion invasion“, and called its supporters “traitors“.
“We do not tolerate any foreign interference, wherever it comes from. "This is a question of sovereignty," Barrot stressed.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday that it was "clear" that Russia interfered in Britain's disputed 2016 Brexit referendum, which led to the country's exit from the European Union.