Russia Seeks to Influence German and French Elections, Sweden Warns

Russia is focusing its influence operations on upcoming elections in Germany and France, using social media platforms and automated accounts to deepen political divisions, according to Sweden’s top official responsible for countering foreign disinformation.

Magnus Hjort, director general of the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency, told Politico that Moscow sees elections in major European democracies as opportunities to amplify polarization and weaken trust in political institutions.

“Our assessment is that Russia is prioritizing other elections, other countries, larger countries in Europe,” Hjort said.

Germany and France in Focus

Hjort pointed to upcoming regional and local elections in Germany and France’s next presidential contest as key targets.

“We have elections in Germany coming up on the regional and local level,” he said. “We have presidential elections in France next year.”

Germany has faced growing concern over Russian-linked hybrid activity, including fabricated social media posts and videos falsely accusing election candidates of corruption and sexual offenses.

Votes are due in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sept. 20, with the far-right Alternative for Germany expected to perform strongly.

In France, Marine Le Pen is leading opinion polls ahead of the presidential election. Her National Rally party has previously faced criticism over perceived sympathies toward Moscow.

Ukraine Support a Key Target

Hjort said one of Russia’s main objectives is to reduce European support for continued financial and military assistance to Ukraine.

The campaign seeks to influence voters by circulating false claims about Ukrainian corruption and alleged abuses, encouraging doubts over whether governments should continue sending money and weapons to Kyiv.

Sweden, by contrast, is not currently assessed to be a major target ahead of Sunday’s general election.

Hjort said broad domestic backing for support to Ukraine made Sweden less attractive than larger European countries with more contested political environments.

Pressure on Social Media Platforms

Sweden is urging major technology companies to move more aggressively against coordinated bot networks.

Asked whether Meta, TikTok and X were doing enough, Hjort said: “With the platforms? No, I think the platforms should do more in order to keep their platforms clean of these bot networks. So there's room for improvement.”

He said European governments need closer cooperation and stronger channels for dealing with social media companies.

Swedish authorities have also identified a network of 1,200 accounts on X that targeted Sweden and other countries.

The network, known as the “holiday network,” initially posted about ordinary topics such as vacations and sports before shifting toward divisive political content.

It produced 50,000 posts and comments in 2025 and 2026, taking sharply opposing positions on major political issues.

Russia’s Disinformation Tactics

The Swedish agency also recently detected a Russian-aligned campaign using the so-called Matryoshka method.

The tactic attempts to draw journalists and fact-checkers into engaging with deceptive material, increasing its visibility even when it is being debunked.

Hjort said the most effective response is often to avoid engagement.

“They want to get you engaged, they want to get angry, they want to get you excited,” he said.

Swedish authorities continue to monitor the final days before their own election, but Hjort said they had not detected any coordinated Russian campaign targeting Sweden.