France’s cash-strapped far right turns to Russian lender. "No one else will give us a cent."

[pampango]

Marine Le Pen stands before a large poster reading "No to Brussels" at a rally ahead of the 2014 European elections.

The French far right’s cosiness with Vladimir Putin’s Russia is back in the spotlight as Marine Le Pen’s party confirms it borrowed nine million euros from a Russian lender, saying “no one else will give us a cent”.

France’s far-right National Front (FN) said Sunday it had borrowed the money from Moscow-based First Czech Russian Bank (FRCB), confirming a report by the investigative news website Mediapart. “We have been looking for loans for some time, to fund our election campaigns. But our bank, like most French and European lenders, categorically refuses to give the FN and FN candidates the slightest cent,” he said. Saint-Just has expressed similar concerns in the past, saying banks were reluctant to lend money to political parties since former president Nicolas Sarkozy was fined 500,000 euros for undisclosed expenses in his failed 2012 presidential bid.

Pointing to Le Pen’s well-known penchant for Moscow, Mediapart said the FN’s Russian funding raised concerns about “possible foreign interference in French politics”. The far right leader has made multiple trips to Moscow since taking over from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2011. She has made no secret of her respect for President Vladimir Putin, repeatedly slamming EU leaders for stoking a “new Cold War” with Russia.

Le Pen's party has described Putin as a "patriot" and a defender of traditional European values, hailing his moves to crack down on LGBT "propaganda".

"The Kremlin is now betting on the National Front," wrote the French weekly. "It deems the party capable of seizing power in France and changing the course of European history in Moscow's favour."

http://www.france24.com/en/20141123-france-far-right-turns-russian-lender-national-front-marine-le-pen/

Since this loan has been revealed, it will be interesting to see how French election authorities react to it.

[merrily]

1. France's far right has to borrow from Russia and we have to borrow from China. Hmm.

Last edited Mon Nov 24, 2014, 08:19 AM - Edit history (1)

[pampango]

2. True. Though it's not France borrowing from Russia, it's their far-right party, the National Front.

I wonder if our tea party is getting loans from China because "no one here will lend them a cent".

[merrily]

4. Thanks. I edited. I think it still works, for my purposes as

the US is to the right of China and France's far right is probably to the right of Russia.

[jakeXT]

3. Well, Gadaffi is no more