As a rule, the Kremlin denies that is trying to help those who sympathize with, to win elections in other countries. So it was with the presidential election in the United States, and now a case of Moscow’s intervention being investigated by Congress and the FBI. But on the eve of presidential elections in France, Russia and their likes does not hide.
Last week Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin right-wing French presidential candidate marine Le Pen (Marine Le Pen), furnished almost as a state. During the meeting, Putin said: “We in no way want to influence the development of events.” He was referring to the upcoming presidential election in France.
Talk about the veracity of this statement — which he did, almost a wink, we provide the readers of Dagens Nyheter themselves. The fact that the Russian leader is hosting a presidential candidate from the National front a month before the first round of voting, in itself, says something about how much importance Moscow attaches of the French elections.
Moscow’s attempts to influence elections in Western countries — a well-established business. The fact that the election campaign Le Pen facing financial problems, managed a few years ago to take nearly ten million euros from the Bank, associated with the Kremlin, hardly a coincidence.
The friendly attitude of the Russian leadership to the leader of the National front you can understand when I hear that Le Pen said in Moscow. She condemned the government of Ukraine in the expressions, exactly mimicking those used in the Russian state media: “We are dealing with a government that came to power illegally, as a result of the revolution on the Maidan, and bombarding the population of Donetsk and Lugansk. It is a war crime”.
Le Pen also promised to fight the EU sanctions against Russia adopted after the annexation of Crimea and intervention in Eastern Ukraine.
If we add to this the promise of Le Pen to withdraw France from the defence of the NATO Alliance, to replace the euros to francs and then to leave the EU, it becomes — from the perspective of the Kremlin — even too good to be real.
Only after Breccia — a country with nuclear weapons less than two months to anti-Western, hostile to the US Pro-Russian President.
Putin said Le Pen with approval: “I know you are quite a fast-paced spectrum of European political forces.”
This emerging “spectrum” — of course, nationalist and xenophobic groups that are now moving in many EU countries. For Putin this is a positive development, as these populist parties — almost without exception Pro-Russian.
The outcome of the French elections is unclear, not least because many polls lately reflected picture is wrong. But one thing is certain — win Le Pen would become an even greater “revolution” than the unexpected victory of Putin admirer of Donald trump at the election of the leader of the United States, which was a great success, despite the fact that all the revelations about contacts employees trump with Russia and forced the White house to take a defensive position.
Trump never so magnificently did not speak for Putin, Le Pen, but his administration still with a stock passes the “duck test” for all criteria: “If I see a bird that looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I duck and call”.
Surrounded by trump too many Pro-Russian officers that it was an accident:
The first chief of the electoral headquarters of the trump by Paul Manafort (Manafort Paul) worked for years promoting Russian oligarchs, Putin allies and Pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Now under investigation Manafort in connection with money laundering through the Russian-controlled Bank in Cyprus.
The trump Advisor for security, Michael Flynn (as Michael Flynn) for a fee, acted on Putin’s RT TV channel.
— The current Minister of foreign Affairs trump Rex Tillerson (Rex Tillerson) has awarded Putin the Order of friendship, medal of the best of Russia, once as the head of Exxon Mobil has signed a billion agreement on joint oil projects with Russia’s Rosneft.
The trump praised Putin for “mind,” and critics regarding the legal violations in Ukraine has never expressed.
So far there is no evidence that trump is a Russian agent, and also in the U.S. there are powerful forces with their own significant interests, opposing the fact that the White house became a branch of the Kremlin.
But Le Pen as President of France it might be different. Victory for Le Pen would turn Europe into a totally different direction. The whole structure of the EU and NATO, with their political, economic and military solidarity, can quickly deteriorate if most of the important members of the Alliance leave it.
Against Le Pen advocates centrist policies that support the EU, Emmanuel macron (Emmanuel Macron), which will probably bump into her in the decisive second round of voting on 7 may.
