Russia Rebukes Le Pen, Bardella Over Claims Moscow Intimidating France

Russia on Sept. 21 denied posing a threat to France or any other European countries, rejecting comments made over the weekend by the leaders of France’s nationalist National Rally (RN) party.

In a joint statement on Sept. 19, RN’s presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and the party’s president, Jordan Bardella, referred to “intimidation, threats, destabilization” and “psychological pressure” from Russia, which they said were intended to get France to change its foreign policy toward Ukraine.

The statement was triggered by a number of incidents, most recently by the decision on Sept. 17 to place the assets of French retailer Auchan and Swiss food company Nestlé under temporary administration, which could lead to their assets being frozen.

Auchan employs 24,236 people and operates 229 grocery stores in Russia.

“The decision by the Russian authorities to place the subsidiaries and assets in Russia of several French and European companies under temporary administration constitutes a hostile act against the interests of France and the nations of Europe,” Le Pen and Bardella said in their statement.

“This decision, which directly infringes upon the interests and rights of our companies, must be strongly condemned.”

‘Acts of Hostility’

They also referred to “acts of hostility committed in Europe by agents operating on behalf of Russia.”

“We will never tolerate a foreign power, in this case Russia, hoping to dictate our country’s policy directly or indirectly through intimidation, threats, destabilization, or psychological pressure,” Le Pen and Bardella said in the statement.

On Sept. 18, French President Emmanuel Macron briefed members of his Cabinet, the security services, and leading figures from all the parties represented in the French parliament at the Élysée Palace in Paris about Russian hybrid attacks on French infrastructure.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sept. 21 that Russia rejected the accusations made by Le Pen and Bardella, and the narrative that Moscow was hostile to Europe.

“We do not agree with this statement,” Peskov said. “Russia is not threatening France or any other country in Europe. President Putin has stated this on numerous occasions. We have no disputes with any European states that could give rise to any serious disagreements.”

Russia ‘Poses No Threat’

“Russia therefore poses no threat whatsoever; it threatens no one and blackmails no one. We therefore categorically disagree with such statements. We do not accept them,” Peskov said.

In the past, Le Pen and RN—formerly known as the National Front (FN)—had been accused of being soft on Putin.

During the 2022 elections, Macron accused Le Pen of being “dependent on Russian power and Putin,” something that she vehemently denied.

In 2023, Le Pen said calls for her party to face a parliamentary inquiry into whether it was backed by Russia were a “witch hunt.”

The controversy followed revelations that the party received a 9.4 million euro ($10.78 million) loan in 2014 from the First Czech-Russian Bank, after several Western banks turned it down.

But in their joint statement, Le Pen and Bardella said it was necessary to reaffirm their position on Russia “with the utmost clarity.”

They said that while it was perfectly legitimate for there to be a democratic debate about the level and conditions of financial support that France is providing to Ukraine, and the inadequacy of initiatives aimed at resolving the conflict, it was not acceptable for Paris to be pressured by Moscow.

“No provocation, no clandestine operation, and no destabilizing action could lead France to facilitate Russia’s achievement of its war aims in Ukraine,” they said.

“France’s foreign policy is decided in Paris, sovereignly, based solely on the interests of the nation. It cannot be determined in Moscow, any more than in any other foreign capital.”

They added that France cannot allow any hostile action to be undertaken on its territory, and said any such operation must be met with a “proportionate response.”

France will hold presidential elections in spring 2027, and Le Pen confirmed in July that she would be a candidate after a French appeals court lifted the ban on her running for office that was instituted after she was convicted of embezzling money from the European Union. Le Pen has always denied any wrongdoing.

Macron, who is nearing the end of his second term, will not be a candidate, and his liberal centrist party, Renaissance, has picked Gabriel Attal, a former prime minister.

But last month, opinion polls suggested that Le Pen’s opponent in the second and final round of the presidential elections would likely be Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of the hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, who is polling well ahead of Attal.

Peskov’s comments came after the ruling United Russia party won ‌a parliamentary election ⁠that had been cast by President Vladimir Putin himself as a test of support for his war policy in Ukraine.

The Central Election Commission said United Russia had won 57.8 percent of the vote in the State Duma, ​up from 49.8 percent in 2021.

The commission estimated that the results ​would give ⁠United Russia 355 seats in ​the ​450-seat ‌Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament.

Reuters contributed to this report.