France slams Russian ‘intimidation’ as fresh EU sanctions come into force

"On Monday, we will take new ​sanctions ‌against Russia, on 150 additional entities, 50 ⁠banks, and it's France which proposed the bulk of the entities to add," ‌Haddad told LCI television on Thursday.

"We will continue to put ⁠economic pressure on Russia and of course support Ukraine," he added.

His comments come as leaders from more than 40 European countries meet in Dublin on Thursday focused on the continent's fragile security, amid a new United States-backed effort to revive talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

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'France will not be intimidated'

Haddad also condemned Moscow's decision on Wednesday to ban four French citizens from entering Russia. 

Le Monde newspaper reporter Ariane ‌Chemin, freelance journalist and former Moscow correspondent Paul Gogo, and French MPs Sacha Houlie and Arthur Delaporte have been banned from entry in response to the expulsion in July of TV commentator Xenia Fedorova from France. 

"This is intimidation. France will not be intimidated," Haddad said. "These lawmakers ​and journalists are doing their jobs, these lawmakers are notably very involved in the fight against foreign interference."

A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had banned the four French citizens “because of their involvement in the harassment of Fedorova and their calls for her expulsion”.

Earlier on Thursday, France's Foreign ​Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said ​the fact that the Kremlin was presenting the ​ban as a response to Fedorova's expulsion "confirmed her ties to Russian authorities".

Ordering the expulsion in July, France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez accused Fedorova of relaying Russian propaganda in an attempt to attack "the fundamental interests of the nation".

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'Political punishment'

Fedorova, a former chief of Russia Today (RT) France, had become a prominent figure on several right-wing French media outlets, including rolling news channel CNews and associated outlets ⁠Europe 1 and JDNews – all of which belong to conservative tycoon Vincent Bolloré.

Chemin has co-authored several investigative articles on Fedorova, describing her as a pro-Kremlin propagandist.

Gogo, who recently published "Moscow Paranoia: Putin's Russia Laid Bare", left Russia in February this year after his visa was not renewed. He said that while he had publicly stated that he did not consider Fedorova to be a journalist, he had "never called for her expulsion”.

MPs Houlié and Delaporte told RFI they saw the ban as political “punishment” for their positions on Russia. 

Houlié said it was "recognition" of his work commissioning a report on foreign interference against France and another requesting legal proceedings against Fedorova, who he described as "an enemy intelligence agent".

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Delaporte, meanwhile, had publicly called for Fedorova's 10-year French residence permit to be withdrawn and lobbied for her expulsion.

“This sanction is particularly worrying,” Delaporte told RFI. “It comes against the backdrop of a [French] presidential campaign in which, as we know, Russia is seeking to influence public debate, and in which our candidate, Raphaël Glucksmann, and the Socialist Party have consistently opposed the Kremlin's attempts at interference.

"We must not give in to this latest attempt at intimidation. And France must respond,” he said.

Russia has banned dozens of Western journalists and MPs from entering the country since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.