The Presidency of France came out to flatly denying the misinformation that circulated in recent days on social networks that accused the president Emmanuel Macron of consuming drugs on a train with several European leaders.
These versions began to circulate thanks to ultra -right figures and Russian officials. Among the main diffusers of this news are the American announcer Alex Jones and the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. Both stated on the social network X that in a real image of Macron, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the German head of government Friedrich Merz There were drugs involved. The leaders were traveling by train to kyiv to meet with the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski.
“As in the joke, a Frenchman, an English and a German got on the train and … They were drugged. Apparently, so much that They forgot to remove accessories (a bag and a spoon) before the arrival of journalists, ”said Zakharova on Telegram.
In the images, when you arrive at the car, Macron is seen removing a white handkerchief from the table. Without providing evidence, some users mistakenly suggested that the object contained cocaine.
France’s hard response to cocaine rumors at a Macron meeting
Given these accusations, the French presidency quickly came out to clarify: “This is a handkerchief. To play your nose”
“When the European unit is uncomfortable, Disinformation reaches the extreme of making a simple handkerchief look. This false information is being disseminated by the enemies of France, both abroad and in the country. Be careful with manipulation, ”he added.
The American announcer and the Russian official also said, without evidence, that the images had been taken after the conversation with Zelenski, with the aim of also involving the Ukrainian president in the accusations of drug use.
However, the images taken by AFP and other media within the train clearly show that the white object was simply a Wrong paper scarfwithout any suspicious content. The Ukrainian center for the fight against misinformation accused Russia of trying to discredit the initiatives of European leaders to end the conflict initiated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
From Germany these accusations also flatly denied and highlighted: “We reject this absurd statement,” said a spokesman for the German government. For its part, the conservative party of Merz, the CDU, wrote in X: “Currently, many sectors are trying to influence public opinion through misinformation campaigns. The enemies of our democracy are trying specifically weakening European unity and social cohesion. ”
Source: Ambito
