Hollande warns of cyber attacks on presidential elections

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday called for a detailed report on the threats of cyber attacks on the presidential election, while the Kremlin, already suspected of having disrupted the American election, denied accusations of interference in the campaign of Emmanuel Macron.

According to a statement by Hollande's office, cyber security in the context of the upcoming presidential election will be on the agenda at the government's next weekly security council meeting.

"The President wants to see presented to him at the next council meeting some specific monitoring and protection measures, including in the cyber domain, to be taken during the election campaign," the statement said.

The Elysée has refrained from giving any precise information on the nature or origin of the threats.

The statement was issued after this week's meeting of the council, which oversees general security and anti-terror efforts.

France "will not accept any interference in its electoral process," foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned Wednesday, referring specifically to Russia.

This week, frontrunner Emmanuel Macron's team complained it was the victim of Russian media and internet attacks aimed at helping the election campaigns of his pro-Moscow rivals. The Russian Kremlin denied those charges, calling them "absurd". "We do not have and we never intended to hamper the internal affairs of a country, let alone its electoral process," assured the Russian presidency.

In the United States, the Kremlin and its leader are suspected of having worked for the election of Donald Trump by hacking the Democratic Party's computers.

France goes to the polls to elect a new president on 23 April.