French political risk should not be “downplayed”, the analysts said, adding that a victory for Le Pen is not impossible and would not be “benign”.
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It seems only natural, then, that Marine Le Pen, far-right presidential candidate and leader of the National Front Party, would spend this week in Chad and Russian Federation.
National Front (FN) party candidate Le Pen said the meeting was important in the face of the global terrorist threat and that it would be useful if the two countries could share intelligence between each other.
Her party took a 9-million-euro loan from a Moscow-based bank in 2014, and is actively seeking new sources of funding. CBS News earlier wondered if she should be called “France’s Trump”.
Putin said Russian Federation has no intention of influencing domestic affairs in France but reserves the right to maintain contacts with representatives of all political forces in that country.
Le Pen aides did not say whether she would be meeting any Russian officials while in Moscow.
“The euro triggered a very serious increase in prices and a very steep drop in purchasing power”, Le Pen said in an interview published in Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday. Macron and Le Pen are the leading contenders in the presidential race.
“I am in favor of developing relations with Russian Federation in the context of the long history that links our two countries”, Le Pen said at a meeting with Russia’s parliamentary speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin.
Russian Federation and France should work together in the face of two great challenges – globalization and Islamic fundamentalism, Le Pen said. “Of course, Le Pen wants to use Vladimir Putin’s authority in her election campaign”, he clarified.
The wife of French presidential candidate Francois Fillon is facing preliminary charges over well-paid parliamentary jobs that investigators suspect she never performed. Fillon has called the accusation a “shameful lie”.
Le Pen said in Moscow that financial aid to her party had “in no way” been discussed during her meeting with Putin.
Polls suggest Le Pen is running neck-and-neck with independent centrist Emmanuel Macron at about 25 percent.
Russian Federation had no intention of “interfering in anyone’s internal business or electoral processes”, Peskov said.
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One of Russia’s main news agencies Interfax tweeted: “BREAKING: The Kremlin announces a Russian bank will finance Marine Le Pen’s electoral Le Pen”.
