Macron's own presidential election campaign got attacked in 2017 by hackers who published a large trove of emails, purportedly from his political party | Johannes Simon/Getty Images Macron calls for attribution, cybersanctions to stop Russian election meddling ‘We need to be quick in our reaction’ and ‘to agree on sanctions,’ the French president said.

MUNICH — French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday said the EU should be more assertive in slapping sanctions on countries trying to interfere with elections in Europe.

Calling out Russia, Macron said it "will remain a country that tries to intervene" in European elections through the use of deep fakes and manipulation techniques.

"We need to be quick in our reaction, methodic, and we need to be clear on who did [meddle in elections] and we need to agree on sanctions," Macron said.

The European Union last year adopted a mechanism to impose economic sanctions, travel bans and asset freezes on persons and entities that launched cyberattacks on European networks, including election infrastructure, called the "cyber diplomatic toolbox."

Macron's own presidential election campaign got attacked in 2017 by hackers who published a large trove of emails, purportedly from his political party, hours before the presidential vote.