PARIS: France's foreign minister on Tuesday accused the billionaire tycoon and owner of the X social media platform Elon Musk of "online harassment" of European leaders, as he sounded the alarm over the risks of interference in the French 2027 presidential election.

Jean-Noel Barrot warned that ahead of the April-May election – in which far-right candidate Marine Le Pen has her best ever chance of winning the Elysee – "the enemies of democracy will do everything to destabilise us."

"They exploit our divisions and exploit issues such as immigration, secularism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to stoke hatred and tension," he said at a conference organised by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).