The false claims were published on social media networks including X (formerly Twitter), using a spoofed version of the website of Pierre-Yves Bournazel, the centrist candidate running to be mayor of Paris.
The fake site claimed that he intended that the internationally recognised Paris art gallery the Pompidou Centre - currently closed for a major renovation project - be converted into a "facility for homeless migrants, where they would sleep, eat and pray".
The fake claims, using a picture of Bournazel with president Emmanuel Macron, whose party he represents, were published in both English and French and were widely shared on social media.
The candidate has made a formal complaint to the French cyber-security agency Secrétariat général de la Défense et de la Sécurité nationale (SGDSN) and Viginum - the organisation that focuses on foreign interference in politics.
The fake news has been attributed to the Russian-linked group Storm-1516, which has been behind several viral bits of fake information connected to European politics.
The Pompidou Centre - globally known for its modernist architecture including pipes on the outside of the building - closed in the autumn of 2025 for a five-year renovation project.
Needless to say, Bournazel has never outlined a policy of repurposing it as a migrant welcome centre, and even if he had such a decision would not fall within the scope of the city mayor as the Pompidou Centre is owned by the French state and falls under the control of the Culture Ministry.
The Macronist Bournazel is currently polling third in the Paris mayoral election, which is expected to be a close contest between the centre-left Emmanuel Grégoire (former deputy of the current mayor Anne Hidalgo) and the centre-right Rachida Dati, the former Culture Minister.
Neither of them have plans for the Pompidou Centre either.
France goes to the polls for the local elections on March 15th and 22nd, with the country's cyber security agencies on high alert for signs of foreign interference, which seems to have become a feature of European elections.
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