Hollande calls for reinforced cyber security as election nears

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday called for further measures to reinforce cyber security after allegations that Russian hackers have been targeting presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron.

After a defense meeting at the Elysee Palace, Hollande said that "specific vigilance and protection measures, including the cyber field" should be taken to avoid foreign interference in France's presidential election, his office said in a statement.

Government spokesperson Stephane Le Foll said a meeting on ways to reinforce cyber security will be held on Feb. 23.

"Democratic expression must be done without being disturbed by people who want to give false information or disrupt the election," he added.

On Tuesday, Richard Ferrand, party chief of presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron accused Russia-based hackers of attacking databases and e-mail servers of the independent centrist candidate's party.

"If these attacks succeeded, the campaign of En Marche would become extremely difficult," he added.

According to Ferrand, thousands of cyber attacks were conducted by "structured groups" who have been operating in Ukraine.

Russia called these accusations as "absurd," according to media reports.

Moscow was accused of hacking U.S. Democratic Party and campaign staff email and spreading fake news to influence the Nov. 8 election in which Republican Donald Trump, who wants to reset relations with Russia, was elected the 45th president of the United States. Enditem