France's Front National Accepts €9m Loan From Russian Bank

[Syt]

http://www.newsweek.com/frances-front-national-accepts-eu9m-loan-russian-bank-286999

Honi soit qui mal y pense?

France's Front National Accepts €9m Loan From Russian Bank

France's nationalist Front National took out a €9 million loan from a Moscow-based First Czech Russian Bank, the party's treasurer told French radio on Monday.

Front National, which has surged in the polls, with leader Marine Le Pen now a serious contender for president, explained they took out the loan from a bank owned by Kremlin ally Roman Popov, because the party were denied a loan from European lenders.

"What is scandalous is that French banks aren't lending," Le Pen told French daily newspaper Le Monde.

"We asked everyone for a loan, lenders from Spain, Italy, the US, Asia and Russia," Le Pen added.

Some are more sceptical about the nature of the transaction from the Moscow bank to Front National.

The party has been vocal in advocating pro-Russian policies in France, with Le Pen famously proposing the abolition of the EU creation of a 'pan-European' union to include Russia, but not Turkey, during her presidential candidate speech in Paris in 2011. She has also criticised the suspension of a deal to deliver French-built warships to Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

"The explanation for the loan is a bit ridiculous," Peter Kreko director of Budapest's Political Capital Institute told Newsweek.

"This would be a high risk loan for a bank to lend to a political party. When it is such a huge amount of money I can't imagine the transaction was purely economic and had no political dimension," Kreko added.

Kreko explained that it is not coincidental that pro-Russian parties like Front National are receiving support from Moscow, rather that they are part of a Kremlin-backed initiative to impact European policy by supporting pro-Russian parties in the European parliament.

Parties like Hungary's Jobbik, Italy's Northern League and Bulgaria's Ataka all have close ties with Moscow and some, as in Jobbik's case, have ongoing investigation over ties with Russian government funding.

"If you add together the pro-Russian radical left and right parties in Europe they make up about 20% of the European Parliament," says Kreko.

"Add mainstream supporters such as Hungary's Fidesz or the Czech Republic's Social Democratic Party and the pro-Russian bloc in Europe is even bigger," Kreko added.

The European Alliance for Freedom, the joint EU parliament alliance between, Ukip and Swedish, Belgian and Austrian anti-immigration parties told Newsweek that, before leaving the alliance in September, Front National were the only party in the group to not be funded by their respective state.

The alliance would not speculate on how Front National was or is currently funded. Le Pen has denied there is anything illegal about the loan her party took out.

[Martinus]

Hardly surprising, given how extreme right wing movements within the EU, such as Front National, UKIP or the New Right (the party of the bow-tie-sporting Polish racist) are trying to dismantle the union, which is clearly in Russia's interest. The only question is whether we are dealing with useful idiots or traitors.

[Syt]

http://www.thelocal.at/20141125/right-wing-freedom-party-visits-moscow-for-talks

Austria's far-right 'courting' Russia

The leader of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), Heinz-Christian Strache, is in Moscow for a discussion on "overcoming the crisis in Europe".

This comes amid speculation as to whether the FPÖ might have received financial support from Russia, after a Moscow strategy paper seen by German media revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been advised to influence Europe through right-wing populist parties including Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD).

The round-table discussion is being chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Strache is accompanied by the chairman of the Vienna FPÖ Johann Gudenus, the party's foreign policy spokesman Johannes Hübner, and science spokesman Andreas Karlsböck. In a press statement the FPÖ said that the meeting was being attended by politicians, scientists and experts from across Europe.

After France's far-right National Front party admitted to securing a €9 million Russian bank loan in what appears to be a Kremlin bet on the future of French politics, Austrian newspapers speculated as to whether the FPÖ might also have benefited financially from its open support for Putin. Gudenus immediately denied this.

The national manager for the social democrats, Norbert Darabos, said that he found "the extent to which the FPÖ has recently courted Russia very striking". He called on Strache to speak out, rather than relying on Gudenus, and explain the nature of the "strategic friendship".

On Tuesday Strache released a statement from Moscow saying "we are confident of our neutrality and do not receive any financial contributions". He added that he was keen to know if the SPÖ was getting any money from the US for its anti-Russian, pro-Nato position.

[Martinus]

It's funny how Russia can't help being the empire of the dark side in any global political struggle. It didn't work with communism so they are now trying to do it with a fascist internationale (no matter how ridiculous it sounds).

Parties like UKIP or Front National are the modern day equivalent of communist parties in the 1950s.

Time for a McCarthy to emerge.

[Duque de Bragança]

Honni soit qui mal y pense 

To think Le Pen started used to be a hardcore anticommunist...

[Martinus]

Honni soit qui mal y pense 

To think Le Pen started used to be a hardcore anticommunist...

It beats me why people think that Putin's Russia has anything to do with communism. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Honni soit qui mal y pense 

To think Le Pen started used to be a hardcore anticommunist...

It beats me why people think that Putin's Russia has anything to do with communism. 

If you prefer, Jean-Marie was very anti-soviet in the old days.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Comintern has been reborn has an ultra right wing group>?

[Eddie Teach]

with leader Marine Le Pen now a serious contender for president,

How serious?

[Gups]

with leader Marine Le Pen now a serious contender for president,

How serious?

They were the biggest party in the Euro elections and dhe's ahead in the polls. She has been moving party policy away from the fringes (to the disgust of dad)

[Viking]

Recent releases from the Mitrovkhin archive have shown that some of the leadership in the Norwegian No to EEC campaign from the 1970s were paid KGB agents.

I think that people who get paid by the KGB to keep doing what they are already doing are the prime example of Lenin's useful idiots.

[Duque de Bragança]

with leader Marine Le Pen now a serious contender for president,

How serious?

They were the biggest party in the Euro elections and dhe's ahead in the polls. She has been moving party policy away from the fringes (to the disgust of dad)

Not a real contender for president, but she's the last hope of Hollande to be president again, if she makes it to the run-off, which is very likely, since it will become a vote against Le Pen and not a vote pro-Hollande. This would work for the conservatives as well, as in 2002, but they are not in such as desperate position, unlike Hollande who is the worst president of the 5th Republic.

[Tonitrus]

Honni soit qui mal y pense 

To think Le Pen started used to be a hardcore anticommunist...

It beats me why people think that Putin's Russia has anything to do with communism. 

No communism of course, but he is definitely playing on a bit of USSR, authoritarian nostalgia.  It is often quite present when you see man-on-the-street Russians speaking in glorious terms about taking back Crimea and such.  Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRqnhdOvwys#t=157

Interestingly, I don't know if it ever really went away, but a Russian news item I saw a couple weeks ago, showcasing a military air unit, had the officers using the 'ol "comrade-major" form of address.

[Sheilbh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEt41bYQBgE

I wonder if we can get a reaction from Claude Rains?

[Tonitrus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEt41bYQBgE

I wonder if we can get a reaction from Claude Rains?

The Russian commies at least were adept at inspiring music. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ali04XRq88