The policy paper analyses France as one of the key targets of Russian Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) operations. As Russia perceives France as a “soft spot” within NATO and the EU, the country is particularly vulnerable to Russian sharp power due to structural challenges within its political system, media landscape, and society.
Anaïs Marin demonstrates that Russian interference is not created from scratch but rather exploits pre-existing societal fractures, such as social polarisation, declining trust in public institutions, the radicalisation of public debate, and the growing electoral support for radical political parties. The author outlines the strategic context behind Russia’s focus on France. As a core member of both NATO and the EU—and the Union’s only nuclear power since Brexit—France plays a central role in the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. Moreover, since 2022 the French government has adopted an increasingly firm stance against Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. At the same time, however, France retains strong intellectual and political traditions sympathetic to Russia, particularly among segments of the elite. In addition, the French political landscape has increasingly normalised sovereigntist, anti-liberal, and anti-American narratives, which indirectly serve Russian strategic interests.
The paper diagnoses French society as being affected by a widespread sense of middle-class decline, deep mistrust towards state institutions, and a strong tradition of protest politics, all of which contribute to the sharpening of public debate. According to Marin, the far right constitutes the most vulnerable target of Russian propaganda. The Rassemblement National (RN) led by Marine Le Pen has documented financial and political links to the Kremlin, is ideologically aligned with Putin’s national-conservative, anti-liberal and anti-LGBT agenda, and has consistently opposed support for Ukraine. At the same time, the far left also contributes to the dissemination of Kremlin narratives through its anti-Americanism and its advocacy of radical pacifism “at all costs”.
The author further highlights the role of the Russian diaspora as a potential tool of influence. Divided into two main groups—descendants of émigrés from the period 1917–1922 and post-Soviet migrants—both communities reproduce narratives associated with the concept of Russkiy mir (“Russian world”). These narratives undermine Ukrainian sovereignty, the inviolability of borders, and the rules-based international order.
The document also critically examines the French media market, which Marin describes as highly politicised and concentrated in the hands of a small number of right-wing moguls. This concentration facilitates the promotion of populist and far-right narratives, the spread of conspiracy theories and disinformation, and the normalisation of pro-Russian content.
Marin underlines that France needs to develop further the whole-of-society approach focused on strengthening societal resilience, improving media literacy, regulating digital platforms, and challenging the long-standing fascination with Russia among French elites. Without such measures, French democracy will remain exposed to sustained foreign interference and ongoing domestic erosion which eventually in the worst case scenario may even lead to its authoritarian slide in the coming years.
Read the whole policy paper: In the crosshairs – France as a target
Co-financed by the National Freedom Institute – Centre for Civil Society Development in the framework of the Civil Society Organisations Development Programme for 2018-2030 CSODev
