The European Union will approve new sanctions against Russia, France’s Minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said today, Reuters reports.
“On Monday we will introduce new sanctions against Russia, which will affect a further 150 entities and 50 banks. And it was France that proposed including most of them on this list,” Haddad said on LCI.
Haddad also condemned Russia’s decision, adopted on Wednesday, to ban Le Monde correspondent Ariane Chemin, independent journalist and former Moscow correspondent Paul Gogo, as well as two French MPs—Sacha Houlié and Arthur Delaporte—from entering the country.
“This is intimidation. But France cannot be intimidated. I believe these MPs and journalists are simply doing their job; in particular, these parliamentarians are actively involved in the fight against foreign interference,” Haddad said.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot wrote on X that the fact the Kremlin is presenting this ban as a response to the expulsion from France in July of the alleged Russian propagandist Ksenia Fedorova “confirms her links to the Russian authorities”.
French authorities accused Fedorova—a former head of RT France who later became a prominent figure on the news channel CNews and its affiliated outlets Europe 1 and JDNews (all owned by conservative magnate Vincent Bolloré)—of spreading Russian disinformation.
- Reuters reported that a covert Russian network used unrest in France to exert influence via social media. “Operation Overload”, which has been active since September 2023, targets Western public figures, institutions and media outlets in order to discredit them and their support for Ukraine, while promoting content that aligns with Russia’s interests.