Le Pen shouldn’t count on Putin’s money

Marine Le Pen’s party (National Front) has benefited from Russian money along with other eurosceptic parties. But now the Russians want their money back. The Kremlin may support Western nationalists, as they mean weaker opposition to its plans, but only if they have a shot at winning   -Vasilis Chronopoulos

The 11 million ($11.5 million) euros in loans the French National Front took from a Russian bank is to date the most solid bit of proof that Russia is backing nationalist populist political forces in Europe with more than just talk on Kremlin propaganda channels and invitations for meetings in Moscow. The Russian government, however, appears to want its money back — and that drives home a hard reality for National Front leader Marine Le Pen: The Kremlin loves the Western nationalists, but it’s a tougher kind of love than Western Communists got from the Soviet Union.

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