LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Marine Le Pen photographed in front of the National Assembly on December 19 (pictured).
POLITICS – At the end of 2023, the American newspaper The Washington Post has a surprise for the National Rally. But it's not really a Christmas present. The prestigious publication published on Saturday, December 30, a lengthy investigation into the method by which Vladimir Putin's Russia is weakening France's support for Ukraine.
A subversion operation in which the party led by Jordan Bardella plays a crucial role, according to the documents consulted by the American daily, which also conducted numerous interviews as part of this investigation. This “interference” work is led by Sergei Kirienko, the first deputy in Vladimir Putin’s cabinet. It consists of disseminating elements of language through unknown intermediaries, which are then picked up by the leaders of the far-right party, including Marine Le Pen, leader of the RN group in the National Assembly.
Troll farms
These elements are well known to those who follow the news about the war in Ukraine. These include claims that economic sanctions against Moscow punish France more than Russia, that supplying weapons to Kiev poses the risk of a third world war, or that the French should not have to pay for a war waged by others. These are, in fact, arguments heard by several RN officials, including Marine Le Pen. To support this narrative offensive, Russia has set up troll farms, a kind of factory with fake accounts of supposedly French users who distribute this propaganda on social media Spread networks.
These fake accounts are particularly active. For example, during the June riots, they (1.2% of users) were the authors of more than 30% of the comments published on social networks at the time. “Among the most prolific accounts, 24.2% included pro-Russian messages in their comments,” notes the Washington Post, which recalls that most of these fake accounts appear to be supporters of Marine Le Pen or Éric Zemmour. Enough to revive the criticism often leveled at the RN on this topic.
“Voting for Le Pen and Bardella means voting for Putin”
In the social network Le Pen in the media. “The Washington Post article on Russian interference attempts in France and the complicity of the Le Pen camp reflects the conclusions of our investigative commission,” adds Macronist MP Stéphane Vojetta, referring to the work carried out by the Assembly on the issue. and whose report described the RN as “the effective transmission belt” of the Kremlin discourse in France. “Voting for Le Pen and Bardella means voting for Putin. Period,” emphasizes the representative for French people abroad.
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On the same social network, Chloé Ridel, spokesperson for the Socialist Party, said: estimated that Jordan Bardella’s party “threatens the security of our country.” The same applies to environmentalist Karima Delli. “This manipulation of the information disseminated by the Kremlin threatens our democracy,” she says, alarmed.
In reality, the links between the Lepenist party and Putin's power are well known, and the Washington Post article confirms what many observers have been saying for several years. Mediapart, Le Monde, but also the report of the investigative commission… The elements that testify to the political, even material, closeness between the RN and Russia have been accumulating for several years.
And that without fundamentally changing Marine Le Pen's attitude towards Russia. This Sunday, December 31st, the MP from Pas-de-Calais published her wishes for the year 2024. Five minutes and twenty seconds of speech and not a single word for Ukraine, a war with appalling casualties that resulted in less than 3,000 kilometers away is raging from Paris and its consequences are having a significant impact on the French stock markets, particularly in the energy sector.
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