Russian interference in the internal affairs of other countries may be "our new world war," said French Prime Minister Gabriel Atal today, quoted by France Presse, writes BTA.
He argues that it is "poison that seeks to manipulate (public) opinion".
"We saw those red hands on the Holocaust memorial, we saw those stars of David marked on walls. "We recently saw the coffins that were placed under the Eiffel Tower," Attal told France 2 television, listing several recent cases in France where foreign manipulation is suspected.
"I say it, this intervention could be our new world war because, mind you, these are manipulations that come from outside and seek to divide us," the French prime minister said a day after the country's parliament passed a law on countering these practices.
"The first to warn about these threats was the President of the Republic (Emmanuel Macron) himself in 2017, facing (his Russian counterpart) Vladimir Putin, who was by his side,", Attal reminded. He emphasized that this foreign interference "is a poison that seeks to manipulate public opinion, to divide us, to undermine our security in a new, hybrid way.
On Saturday, a Bulgarian man and two other people were detained in Paris after leaving empty coffins at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with the inscription "French soldiers who died in Ukraine".
In recent times, warnings about Russian interference in Europe, including in elections, have been increasing. This year also saw the spread of false claims about the presence of French troops in Ukraine - something Paris has denied.
Otherwise, diplomats said last week that France may soon send military instructors to Ukraine.
At the beginning of last month, French President Emmanuel Macron repeated his idea from February about the possible deployment of Western troops in Ukraine if Russia achieves a breakthrough on the front and Kiev requests that troops be sent.