2024-03-06 15:41:23
The European elections on June 9 will be ” an issue [de sécurité] and a considerable target » foreign manipulation, declared Wednesday March 6, the Secretary General of Defense and National Security (SGDSN), Stéphane Bouillon.
“Besides the Olympics [Jeux olympiques de Paris, cet été], we are very sensitive to what is happening today in Ukraine, and the European elections will be a considerable issue and target for some of our foreign competitors”he affirmed before the defense committee of the National Assembly, without naming any country.
The SGDSN, dependent on the Prime Minister, will organize on March 29, for all French political parties presenting a list in the European elections, a meeting of “awareness of so-called hybrid threats” in order to address the risks “cyberattacks, information manipulation and foreign interference”.
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Destabilization attempts from Russia
Concerning the Paris Olympic Games, the Secretary General specified that a series of exercises had been organized – simulating “cyber attacks, attacks on transport” –, as well as meetings on telecommunications security precautions to be taken ahead of this global event.
According to the Secretary General, hybrid threats are “those that we cannot attribute, that we do not see at first glance, whether they are cyberattacks, disinformation, offensives against our economic security”. “These threats are increasing and can even cause us to lose the war before the adversary has shown a gun, this is the old principle of Sun Tzu [auteur de L’art de la guerre]but it’s much quicker and much more effective in making us lose a war and making us sink.”he concluded.
In recent weeks, Paris has openly denounced a series of destabilization attempts guided by Moscow, aimed at undermining public support for the Ukrainian cause.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers The DGSI is investigating an attempt to destabilize the European elections by pro-Russians in France
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According to information from Monde, the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) opened, in the fall of 2023, an investigation into suspicions of an attempt to destabilize the European elections of June 9. According to the elements gathered, confirmed by a source within the Ministry of the Interior, they relate to the constitution of a list in France serving the interests of Russia and able to benefit from the support of Moscow. Other European Union countries would be targeted by similar threats aimed at weakening the anti-Moscow front born from the war in Ukraine.
In 2021, the French government created Viginum, an agency attached to the SGDSN responsible for tracking disinformation during electoral periods.
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