PARIS — Emmanuel Macron’s office took the unusual step of denouncing unsubstantiated claims that the French president had a bag of cocaine with him while visiting Ukraine over the weekend.
The rumors were sparked after Macron was filmed subtly removing a crumpled white object from a table as he sat beside Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer during their trip to Kyiv on Saturday.
On its official X account, the Elysée Palace was adamant that the object was a tissue.
“This is a tissue. For blowing your nose” it posted next to another picture of the leaders with the caption, “This is European unity. To build peace.”
The Elysée accused “France’s enemies” of spreading disinformation, though it has held back from pointing the finger at anyone specifically.
France last month said Russia was waging a silent war against the country and denounced cyberattacks coming from the Kremlin.
“We must remain vigilant against manipulation,” read the post, which was published in French and English. “When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes as far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs,” it read.
The French presidency has adopted a more aggressive approach against disinformation on the internet in recent weeks, which has coincided with the arrival of Macron’s new international spokesperson Jean-Noël Ladois.
“It’s by denying them when they emerge that we weaken them,” said an Elysée official, who was granted anonymity in line with standard French protocol.
The Elysée Palace also hit back last month at a news story that claimed U.S. President Donald Trump had excluded Macron during talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican.
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