French political parties made aware of “the considerable risk” of foreign interference

This is the first time that such a meeting has been organized in view of the European elections. It was held on Friday March 29 at the headquarters of the SGDSN, the General Secretariat of Defense and National Security.

The month of March 2024 served as a reminder that the risk of cyberattacks was omnipresent. After the massive data leaks suffered by France Travail and then the IT services of several ministries, it was educational establishments that were affected. The risk of seeing new attacks of this kind still looms, and with them, that of foreign interference.

In this context, the next European elections (June 9) are not left out. This year, theEtat decided to tackle the problem head on by organizing for the first time an awareness meeting of political parties. All campaign teams were invited Friday, March 29 in the morning to the headquarters of the SGDSN, the General Secretariat of Defense and National Security. Seventeen parties were represented there.

“The fear is that a State wants to direct the results in a direction that would be favorable to it”

These European elections are “a considerable challenge and target” of foreign manipulation, warns Stéphane Bouillon, the Secretary General of Defense and National Security. “In this period of international unrest, the fear is that a State wants to direct the results in a direction that would be favorable to it.”

To warn candidates, three areas were addressed: cyberattacks for data theft, false information disseminated by real or false media to discredit a candidate, and spy threats. To illustrate them, several examples from recent news: recent suspicions of corruption in the European Parliament, Qatargate, or the Macron Leaks during the 2017 presidential election.

“European parliamentarians will have the power to legislate: this power interests many international organizations, states and intelligence services,” warns Stéphane Bouillon. “Very clearly we had an administration that put into words the strategies put in place, the risks that existed and what had already happened”relates Richard Bouigue, member of Raphaël Glucksmann’s campaign team, head of the PS-Place Publique list.

The campaign director of Jordan Bardella (National Rally) Alexandre Loubet, judge “sincere” the mobilization of state services on this issue. His party is, according to him, the most affected by the “fake news, despicable information about so-called interference.” Following the presidential and legislative elections of 2022, five concrete cases of foreign digital interference were identified by Viginum, the French organization combating these phenomena.