Macron orders protection of France’s infrastructure against Russian hybrid attacks

He said France would continue to support Ukraine despite Russian threats, following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the pro-Western country in February 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech next to the submarine 'Le Temeraire' (The Temerarious) at the Nuclear submarines Navy base of Ile Longue in Crozon, France, Monday March 2, 2026. (Yoan Valat/Pool Photo via AP) (AFP) — President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that the threat posed by Russia’s covert operations was growing across Europe and that he had ordered measures to protect France’s critical infrastructure from increasing Russian “hybrid attacks.” “The Russian hybrid threat against Europeans and against France has intensified,” he said after meeting with French political leaders ahead of his trip to the U.N. General Assembly next week. France’s interior minister had met with regional prefects to increase “vigilance in response to Russian hybrid attacks,” Macron said after meeting with presidential hopefuls and party leaders ahead of next year’s election. Macron said he had ordered “the government to prepare a plan to protect our critical infrastructure” and the “most sensitive” defense industry and technology sites from drone attacks and cyberattacks. He said France would continue to support Ukraine despite Russian threats, following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the pro-Western country in February 2022. Macron also vowed that France would respond to Russia’s covert attacks. “This will not go unanswered,” he said, without elaborating. “The intention behind it is to intimidate us and to derail the effort to support the Ukrainians. The consequence will be the opposite,” he added. “We are not intimidated because we know that what is at stake today in Ukraine is our security.” Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.