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