France Asks Brussels to Impose New Russia Sanctions Ahead of EU Elections - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - France is asking the European Union to impose new sanctions against Russia on another "election meddling" claims, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a draft proposal paper.

The restrictions would target Russia-related individuals and entities allegedly involved in "actions to undermine democracy, stability and the rule of law through a variety of hybrid instruments," the draft quoted by Bloomberg read. It claimed that such "destabilizing activities" have increased throughout Europe, especially in terms of "fake news" aimed at "sowing discord" among EU member states.

EU officials are concerned about the rise in the volume of disinformation on social media ahead of the June elections compared with the previous five years, Bloomberg added, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The French proposal is backed by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland, the news media said.

The campaign team of the incumbent President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who seeks to be reelected, is reportedly familiar with the issue and had it discussed with US President Joe Biden earlier in the week as well as with other European leaders recently, Bloomberg added.

Last month, Czech authorities accused a number of EU lawmakers of accepting payments from Voice of Europe, a pro-Russian media network, to spread the Russian point of view on the international situation ahead of the European Parliament elections.

Russia has repeatedly lambasted the West’s false accusations of Russia’s interference in the domestic affairs of other countries. Moscow also observed that these baseless allegations were hurled to divert public attention away from real issues.