The first round of the legislative elections in France has passed, and while the preferences of French voters are becoming clearer, Russian officials continue to follow the election closely. According to Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, Russian officials are keeping a close eye on the outcome of the elections in France.
During an interview on Monday, Peskov said that while it is too early to predict the final outcome of the elections, it is clear that Russia’s influence in France is significant. He also expressed confidence that the results of the election would not lead to a fundamental questioning of French support for Ukraine.
Other Russian officials have placed the results of the first round in France in a broader context, noting that Joe Biden lost a debate with Donald Trump just days before Macron’s party came in third place in Sunday’s legislative elections. Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia’s lower house parliament, emphasized that both American and French citizens had spoken out for economic development and global security issues.
However, some experts and Russian officials have warned against overestimating the influence of extreme-right party National Rally (RN) on French politics. Guéorgui Bovt cautioned against exaggerating RN’s power and Vladimir Djabarov reminded that relations between Paris and Moscow are unlikely to improve after this election. Jordan Bardella assured his party will be vigilant against any attempts by Russia to interfere with French affairs but set red lines for ground troops or long-range missiles being sent to Ukraine or directly striking Russian cities. Emmanuel Macron is open to using Western weapons against military targets in Russia used for attacks on Ukraine.
The links between RN and Russia have been highlighted by its opponents regularly. In 2014, RN took out a large loan from a Russian-Czech bank until September 2023 when full early repayment will take place. Since then, RN has been accused of being influenced by Moscow regularly
