In war, propaganda is as dangerous as missile fire. This is something France has been slow to understand. The country's domestic intelligence agency, the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), opened an investigation in the fall of 2023 into potential attempts to destabilize the June 9 European elections. The investigation focused on the creation of a campaign to promote Russian interests, which has potentially benefited from Moscow's support, a source within the Interior Ministry confirmed to Le Monde.

Other European Union countries are thought to have been targeted by similar threats aimed at weakening anti-Russian rhetoric following its invasion of Ukraine. Josep Borrel, head of European diplomacy, warned on January 3 that in this election year, "Europe is in danger."

The DGSI's investigation is purely administrative for now, but the agency has already undertaken extensive technical and human surveillance. None of the people involved in the alleged pro-Russian operation have been questioned, and French counterintelligence has not yet established any formal links between the Kremlin and those sharing its propaganda in France. Still, Europe's main intelligence services have given enough credence to this threat to meet in mid-March to coordinate their efforts and respond to the vast concerted attack.

The DGSI has been monitoring the European campaign led by a former member of the European Parliament for Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National party, Jean-Luc Schaffhauser. He was aided by pro-Russian figures close to the far right, such as the former military officer Pierre Plas, the journalist Dimitri de Kochko, and RN veterans like Guillaume Pradoura. In 2023, Schaffhauser appeared before the Assemblée Nationale's commission of inquiry into foreign interference in French politics. He had helped Le Pen's party obtain two loans, including one issued by a Russian bank, in 2014.

Schaffhauser, a member of the theologically conservative Opus Dei, has made no secret of his dream of seeing far-right parties come to power throughout the EU. A former consultant for Dassault Aviation and the Thales Group in Russia, he has worked hard to raise the funds needed to finance his campaign. "I need €2.5 million," he said. "I've continued advising on inter-state disputes, notably with Italy. I can't rely on a wealthy Russian for obvious reasons. I deny any form of foreign interference in my political approach, I'm acting in the interests of France."

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