Of France's four leading presidential candidates, Marine Le Pen of the National Front party is Russia's most enthusiastic supporter by far. In March, Le Pen even traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)
Rumors of Russia's meddling in the runup to the vote, mostly through disinformation campaigns on social media, have been swirling for months. The allegations are not terribly surprising; given its interest in deepening the divides in the European Union as a whole, Russia is likely trying to amplify the political discord in one of the bloc's core member states. But as much as Moscow hopes to sway the outcome of the upcoming votes, or at least disrupt the transition, it knows from recent experience that its electoral interventions can only do so much....
