France's far-right National Front basks in election victory
Fresh from a stunning victory at the polls, the leader of France's far-right National Front said Tuesday she was confident of finding allies in the newly elected European Parliament who would form a powerful bloc opposed to the European Union, immigration and free trade.
It is no longer at all representative of the French people. - National Front leader Marine Le Pen on the French National Assembly
Marine Le Pen claimed a strong mandate from France's European elections Sunday, which saw her party win the largest share of the vote in her nation: 25%. The National Front was one of several right-wing populist groups that experienced a surge of support at the polls across the continent, campaigning on an explicitly anti-EU or anti-euro platform.
European leaders are scheduled to begin a two-day summit Tuesday evening at which they will discuss how to respond to the rise in populist and anti-EU sentiment. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called the National Front's success "an earthquake that all responsible leaders must respond to."
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-france-national-front-election-20140527-story.html