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The French far right and Putin’s Russia: a recent and surprising love affair

The French far-right party and its leader, Marine Le Pen, have been engaged in a strategy designed to assume power and take over the presidency after Emmanuel Macron. To do this, the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen rebranded the party, renewed her team and promoted new and young faces. But did it change its posture on foreign policy? What is today the place of Russia in the political agenda of the National Rally?

It has been more than a decade since French far-right political movements developed a real fascination with Russia and a vocal admiration for its leader, Vladimir Putin. Considering the long and complex history of the clubs, parties, sects, journals and political groups of this political trend, this love affair is quite recent. And it is far from natural.

September 17, 2024 - Cyrille Bret - Hot TopicsIssue 5 2024Magazine

Marine Le Pen, from the Front National, a national-conservative political party in France. Photo: Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock

The traditionally dominant far-right party, the Front National, always viewed the Russian Federation as the heir to the Soviet Union. The deeply rooted anti-communist hatred of the French far right made the rapprochement with Russia highly unlikely and utterly paradoxical. How did France’s main far-right party become the semi-official supporter of Russia in Europe, whereas its Italian or Austrian counterparts (Fratelli d’Italia and the FPÖ) joined the European mainstream on Russia? And what is now the renamed National Rally’s position on Russia?

Domestic first

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