The RN accused by the Washington Post of maintaining new links with Russia

The European elections will take place in a little over 5 months, and already Vladimir Putin's Russia is coming back to haunt the National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella.

In a long investigation, published on December 30, the American newspaper Washington Post asserts that Moscow is “working to undermine French support for Ukraine, according to documents” and implicates the French nationalist party in this operation.

A man is at the heart of this investigation: Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, former MEP for the RN, who helped his party find two bank loans, essential to its survival. One of these loans is the famous “Russian loan”, obtained in 2014 from a Russian-Czech bank, before being bought by an obscure Russian company.

This cumbersome loan was a real political burden, especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It had been identified by Jordan Bardella, president of the RN, and Marine Le Pen's lieutenants as an obstacle to conquest. of power for the 2027 presidential election. It was completely sold last September.

In the meantime, a convinced Russophile, Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, 68, had remained very discreet. He was not reappointed to the RN list for the 2019 European elections. According to the Washington Post investigation, the man is now working “on plans aimed at propelling pro-Moscow politicians to power”. “All the governments of Western Europe will be changed,” Jean-Luc Schaffhauser even asserts to the American newspaper, which reveals that the former MEP “rents a floor of his residence” in Strasbourg to number two of the Russian embassy in France.

According to the Washington Post, which cites documents obtained by a European security service, Russia is carrying out a “subversion” enterprise in France, in which the RN, chaired by Jordan Bardella, would play an important role. The broader goal would be to destabilize Europe.

These documents reportedly show how Sergei Kirienko, first deputy chief of staff in Vladimir Putin's administration, instructed Kremlin political strategists to create political tensions in France through social media and French political figures. The methods, according to the American newspaper, combine the influence of social networks, with the help of “troll farms”, and the support of far-right parties.

Above all, it is about disseminating elements of language favorable to Russia and against the war in Ukraine: asserting that economic sanctions targeting Moscow could cause an economic and social crisis in France, that there is a risk of a third war world by delivering weapons to Ukraine or that only the United States benefits from the war in Ukraine.

Questioned this Tuesday, January 2 on Sud Radio about this investigation, Laurent Jacobelli, RN deputy and spokesperson for the party declared: “It’s all a cabal.” He says there is “no connection” between Russia and his party.

On Twitter, the presidential Renaissance party attacked the nationalist party in a series of messages on X: “The RN is indeed the spokesperson for the Kremlin in France.”