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Putin awaits return on Le Pen investment
Ms Le Pen’s allies in the National Front and Moscow say that her ties to Russia and the support she enjoys there reflect a natural affinity with the Kremlin rather than any systematic or organised covert subversion campaign. “We share a similar vision of the world,” says Bertrand Dutheil de La Rochère, an FN strategist.
Her links with the Russian leader date back to 2011, when she took over the party from her father Jean-Marie. Until then, the FN had an informal alliance with far-right leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. As part of her efforts to detoxify the party, she sought to build a relationship with Mr Putin’s ostensibly more centrist United Russia.
This relationship was largely limited to sporadic visits until 2014, when Ms Le Pen backed Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
“Mr Putin is a patriot,” she said, endorsing Russia’s claim to the territory and calling for western sanctions to be lifted. At the same time the party — perennially short of cash as French banks refuse to lend to them because they fear the reputational risk — secured a €9.4m loan from the Moscow-based First Czech-Russian Bank.
Text messages between Russian officials — leaked online and seen by the FT — appeared to indicate that the loan’s approval was a gesture of thanks from the Kremlin for her support. Ms Le Pen has called those claims “outrageous and offensive”.