France: France rejects rumors about coke on the train to Kyiv

France decidedly rejected rumors about an alleged cocaine bag by head of state Emmanuel Macron on the way to Kiev. “This is a handkerchief. To sneak up,” wrote the Élysée Palace on the platform X and showed a close-up of the white object. “When European unity disturbs, disinformation goes so far to spend a simple handkerchief as a drug. This false information is spread by the inner and outer enemies of France.”

Macron had traveled to Ukraine together with Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and the British Prime Minister Keir Strandmer. The rumor was then spread online that Macron had taken a bag with coke from the table in his allocation part – as a journalist for an image date – to hide them. Merz is said to have said to have hidden a spoon to consume cocaine.

To do this, users shared a video of low quality. It can be seen on high -resolution recordings that the object in front of Merz is a stirring stick for a drink or a small spit for snacks, but not a spoon.

“Caution of manipulation,” warned the Élysée Palace on the platform X. The rumor was spread, among other things, on a website that is very similar in the presentation of a page identified by France as part of the Russian propaganda network. The allegations were also taken up and distributed by the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Sacharova.

The CDU wrote on X: “It is actually only a handkerchief.” Many sides currently try to influence public opinion by disinformation campaigns. “Enemies of our democracy try to weaken European unity and social cohesion. We stick to it.”

The British government also warned of disinformation. One does not know who was behind the false information, said a government spokesman for the British news agency PA. But such attempts have been seen in the past, especially on the part of the Russian state, which is increasingly desperate with a view to war in Ukraine.