Russia · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Emmanuel Macron Orders France To Protect Critical Infrastructure From Russian Hybrid Attacks
Macron ordered government to prepare a plan to protect critical infrastructure from Russian hybrid attacks. Plan targets drones and cyberattacks and includes sensitive defense industry sites.
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2 of 4 outlets skipped it: macron will convene a G7 meeting to coordinate energy-crisis response.
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Macron orders protection plan
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the Russian hybrid threat facing Europeans and France has intensified and that he had ordered measures to protect France’s critical infrastructure from increasing Russian “hybrid attacks.”
“Macron orders protection of France's infrastructure against Russian hybrid attacks”
Macron said he had asked the government to prepare a plan to protect “our critical infrastructure” and the “most sensitive” defence industry and technology sites against drone and cyber-attacks.
He also said France would continue to support Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and vowed that France would respond to Russia’s shadow attacks, adding “This will not go unanswered.”
Macron framed the motive behind the attacks as intimidation and said “The consequence will be the opposite,” while insisting “We are not intimidated, because we know that what is at stake today in Ukraine is our security.”
Incidents cited across Europe
Macron’s warning came after a meeting at the Élysée with political party leaders, where he said the threat “has intensified” and that since this summer Russia has multiplied attacks against European interests.
The French president cited incidents including the discovery of an explosive-drone at the German Leipzig airport in early August, and he said the “intention behind it is to intimidate us and to break the support effort for the Ukrainians.”
The reporting also tied the French alert to a wider set of episodes in Europe, including an Italian fighter aircraft involved in NATO’s air policing shot down a drone over Lithuania in the night of Monday, September 14 to Tuesday, September 15.
In the same account, Denmark accused a Russian frigate of firing two flares at a Fennec helicopter off Gedser, and the reporting described a Russian drone striking a train linking Kyiv to Warsaw about two kilometers from the Polish border with 206 passengers evacuated about fifteen minutes before impact.
Vigilance, energy stakes
After the Élysée meeting, Macron said the Interior Minister had summoned all prefects “to raise the posture and vigilance against Russian hybrid attacks,” and he said the government was tasked with preparing a plan to protect critical infrastructures and “the most sensitive sites” of France’s defence industrial and technological base against drone attacks and cyberattacks.
“summoned all prefects “to raise the posture and vigilance against Russian hybrid attacks.””
The reporting also said Macron would convene a G7 meeting in the coming weeks to co-ordinate the response to the energy crisis, linking surging energy prices to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
In the same press framing, Macron warned that “Fuel prices are reaching historic levels and causing great suffering,” while saying “France has not chosen this war nor is it participating in it, but it suffers the consequences.”
The meeting’s political fallout was reflected in the accounts of party leaders, including Jordan Bardella acknowledging concern about the impact of the United States and Israel’s war against Iran on the price of oil and calling for an urgent response to the energy crisis with a tax cut on fuels.