Jean-Marie Le Pen Convicted of Contesting Crimes against Humanity

THE GUARDIAN: Court confirms conviction of far right Front National founder, who said Nazi occupation was not 'particularly inhumane'

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's far right Front National, has been convicted of contesting crimes against humanity for saying the Nazi occupation was not "particularly inhumane".

A Paris appeals court upheld the three-month suspended prison sentence and €10,000 (£8,283) fine handed to Le Pen in 2009.

Le Pen had told the far-right magazine Rivarol in 2005: "in France at least the German occupation was not particularly inhumane, even if there were a number of excesses – inevitable in a country of 550,000 sq km." » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Thursday, February 16, 2012

Marine Le Pen accuse Sarkozy de «ne pas aimer la France»

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Très offensive, la présidente du Front national a utilisé à plusieurs reprises des termes durs contre son adversaire, avec un double objectif: montrer à quel point Nicolas Sarkozy braderait la souveraineté de la France.

Marine Le Pen s’en est prise violemment à Nicolas Sarkozy vendredi, au lendemain de son discours sur l’Europe, en affirmant que le chef de l’Etat "n’aime pas la France" et en l’accusant de "collaboration avec ses maîtres: les marchés et les banques".

Très offensive, la présidente du Front national a utilisé à plusieurs reprises des termes durs contre son adversaire, avec un double objectif: montrer à quel point Nicolas Sarkozy braderait la souveraineté de la France et redonner un coup de fouet à sa campagne, jusque-là prudente.

"Oui, je pèse mes mots, mais je dois le dire sans détour parce que personne n’osera le dire: le chef de l’Etat aujourd’hui installé à l’Elysée n’aime pas la France, ne la respecte pas", a-t-elle lancé, ovationnée par une centaine de personnes, lors d’un discours sur la défense à Charenton-le-Pont (Val-de-Marne).

Lors de son allocution à Toulon, Nicolas Sarkozy s’est prononcé jeudi pour un nouveau traité européen avec "plus de discipline (budgétaire), plus de solidarité" et un "véritable gouvernement économique". » | AFP | vendredi 02 décembre 2011

Marine Le Pen Defends US Trip Despite Political Snubs
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen, the French far-right candidate, said her trip to the United States remained a success despite scoring meetings with only a small handful of political figures.

"Even before I left for the United States, the French media said it was already a failure. That's not at all the case," she told a throng of French journalists.

Miss Le Pen, of the anti-immigrant National Front party, had an agenda filled more with visits to centres of power like the US Capitol than with meetings with political leaders.

But the office of Republican representative and presidential hopeful Ron Paul said he had a "quick private meeting" with Le Pen earlier Wednesday.

"They primarily discussed monetary policy and the gold standard," spokeswoman Rachel Mills told AFP. » | Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Fille de Sarkozy : Marine Le Pen aurait préféré "un prénom français"
TF1 NEWS: La présidente du Front national, Marine Le Pen, aurait préféré que Giulia Bruni-Sarkozy, la fille du président de la République née mercredi, "porte un prénom français plutôt qu'un prénom italien", a-t-elle déclaré dimanche.

Alors que Carla Bruni-Sarkozy et sa fille Giulia, née mercredi, sont sorties dimanche de la clinique de La Muette à Paris (XVIe arrondissement), où l'épouse du chef de l'Etat avait accouché (voir notre vidéo avec les premières images de la sortie en cliquant ici), la fille de Nicolas Sarkozy reçoit un accueil pour le moins mitigé de la part de Marine Le Pen. La présidente du Front national a ainsi déclaré dimanche qu'elle aurait préféré que Giulia Bruni-Sarkozy, la fille du président de la République, "porte un prénom français plutôt qu'un prénom italien". » | dimanche 23 octobre 2011

Giulia Sarkozy-Bruni : les premières images de la sortie de la clinique

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Marine Le Pen: Is the 'Devil's Daughter' Right?

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Sitting in her office at the headquarters of France's Front National, the obligatory French Tricolour flag nearby, Marine Le Pen is relishing her I-told-you-so moment.

The striking blonde is not only enjoying her role as the wildcard that could upset next year's presidential election, but is profiting from a confluence of events that has made her look less the "devil's daughter" - as she has been called – and more a political diviner.

A decade ago, when the far-right FN warned abandoning the franc for the euro was madness and vowed to pull France out of the common currency, the idea was dismissed as nationalistic folly. Today, the economic crisis engulfing the eurozone, has made the once preposterous idea if not a possibility, then at least a possible solution to the continent's financial woes.

The remarkable turnaround is not lost on Miss Le Pen, who suffers neither false modesty nor self-doubt.

"Much of France now realises we were right to sound the alarm, because what we warned for a long time would happen, is now happening," she says.

"There is a normalisation of our movement that is incarnated by my personality. The effect has contributed to making our analyses more credible.

"Left voters have been betrayed by a political discourse that has no sense. Right voters have been betrayed by a party that has not kept its promises. This has allowed me to position myself as one of the three main candidates." » | Kim Willsher, Paris | Sunday, September 25, 2011

Marine Le Pen: Is This the Most Dangerous Woman in France?

THE OBSERVER: Smart, astute and media savvy, Marine Le Pen has achieved poll numbers for the Front National that her father Jean-Marie could only dream of. With a presidential election less than a year away, does she represent the breakthrough the European far right has so long hoped for?

Step inside an office building in the town of Nanterre, just west of Paris, and you are confronted by what the nostrils register as an odour of the past, for it's a rare thing these days to encounter the lingering taint of cigarette smoke in public spaces. The trail of it leads upstairs to a corner office and to the woman who has, in the past few months, come to dominate French newspapers and chat shows, where she is depicted variously as the new face of European bigotry or a herald of a new European political realignment.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right Front National party, greeted me with an aggressive handshake and the abrupt body language of a person who has a lot to do. It was spring. A flurry of polls had just come out showing she would beat Nicolas Sarkozy if the presidential election were held at that moment (the election will take place a year from now), and she was working hard to press her advantage. She wore a simple blue suit and no jewellery, and her hair was pulled back somewhat haphazardly, with stray wisps dangling. Her gaze is steely, but her eyes have humour in them. Her deep voice, with its smoker's rasp, carries authority.

Her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was a founder of the Front National in 1972 and served as its leader, and perennial presidential candidate, until his retirement in January, at 82. Along the way, thanks in part to his penchant for crisply expressed opinions – that the Nazi occupation of France was "not particularly inhuman"; that the gas chambers were "a detail"; that "the races are unequal"; that someone with Aids is "a kind of leper"; that "Jews have conspired to rule the world" – he and his party became emblems of European right-wing extremism. The height of his popularity came in 2002, when he reached second place in the initial round of voting for president and won the right to enter a head-to-head contest with the incumbent president, Jacques Chirac. Le Pen was trounced in that election and his party faded as a force to be reckoned with.

Then in January, Marine – at 42, the youngest of his three daughters – won a battle to succeed her father as president of the party. Almost overnight, she brought the Front National not just back into the spotlight but also into outright competition. The polls that show her matching or outpacing Sarkozy have shuffled the French political game board. Of late, Sarkozy has fired his diversity minister, declared that multiculturalism has been "a failure" and staged a "debate on Islam" that French Muslims saw as a swat at them – all moves that are widely viewed as a direct response to Marine Le Pen's rise. She derided Sarkozy's support for the recently enacted ban on full-face veils as a pandering political manoeuvre that addressed only "the tip of the iceberg" of what she views as the Islamisation of French culture. » | Russell Shorto | Sunday, June 26, 2011

France Is Not a Democracy, Stop Telling Fairytales – French Far-right Leader

Marine Le Pen en campagne contre la double nationalité

LE POINT: La présidente du FN a écrit à l'ensemble des députés pour leur demander d'abroger la possibilité d'avoir deux nationalités.

La présidente du Front national Marine Le Pen a écrit aux 577 députés de l'Assemblée nationale pour leur demander d'abroger la possibilité d'avoir une double nationalité, française et étrangère, qu'elle juge être une "atteinte à la cohésion républicaine". "La multiplicité des appartenances à d'autres nations contribue aujourd'hui, et d'une manière de plus en plus préoccupante, à affaiblir chez nos compatriotes l'acceptation d'une communauté de destin, et par là même à miner les fondements de l'action de l'État", écrit la présidente du parti d'extrême droite, dans ce courrier révélé mercredi par France Soir et dont l'Agence France-Presse a eu une copie. » | Source AFP | Mercredi 01 Juin 2011

Marine Le Pen: Madame Non
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Marine Le Pen, Vorsitzende des rechtsextremen Front National, wettert gegen Euro, EU und Migration. Viele Franzosen mögen sie. Ein Mittagessen mit der Rivalin von Präsident Sarkozy.

Es gibt kein Mikrofon in dem feinen, stuckgeschmückten Saal des Restaurants gleich bei der Comédie Française in Paris. „Ich spreche sowieso laut“, sagt Marine Le Pen. Die 42 Jahre alte Vorsitzende der rechtsextremen Partei Front National (FN), die enge dunkelblaue Jeans zur weißen Designerjacke trägt, ist sichtlich guter Laune. In einem Jahr sind Präsidentenwahlen und alle jüngeren Umfragen sehen die FN-Chefin sicher in der Stichwahlrunde. Im ersten Wahlgang schlägt sie Präsident Sarkozy, aber auch den sozialistischen Umfragefavoriten Dominique Strauss-Kahn, sagen die Meinungsforschungserhebungen. Anders als ihr Vater Jean-Marie Le Pen muss sie sich nicht abmühen, in den Medien Gehör zu finden. Sie kann sich vor Anfragen kaum retten und wird zum Mittagessen eingeladen wie etablierte französische Politiker. „Die Themen fliegen uns geradezu zu“, sagt sie.

Derzeit ist es die Krise der Europäischen Union, die Marine Le Pen umtreibt. Der Fall Griechenland zeige eindeutig, dass die europäische Staatsschuldenkrise längst nicht überwunden sei. „Ich bin keine Antieuropäerin“, sagt Frau Le Pen. „Aber ich gehe davon aus, dass das ganze europäische System irgendwann zusammenbricht.“ Sie wolle Frankreich vorbereiten auf den Tag, an dem die Eurozone auseinanderbreche. Der Euro sei ein „historischer Fehler“ gewesen, und bislang spürten vor allem die Länder an der europäischen Peripherie dessen ökonomische Auswirkungen.

„Schwaches Wachstum, Jobverlagerung in Billiglohnländer, negative Handelsbilanzen und Arbeitslosigkeit“ seien die Bilanz des Euro. „Glauben Sie wirklich, dass Griechenland aus eigener Kraft den Bankrott vermeiden kann? Glauben Sie wirklich, dass Griechenland eine Zukunft mit dem Euro hat?“, fragt sie. Mit einer starken Währung könne Griechenland im internationalen Konkurrenzkampf nicht wettbewerbsfähig sein. » | Von Michaela Wiegel, Paris | Dienstag, 10. Mai 2011

Marine Le Pen: I Want to Free France from EU Straitjacket

Marine Le Pen 'Would Knock Nicolas Sarkozy Out of French Presidential Elections'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The leader of France's far-right National Front party would qualify for the second round of France's presidential elections at the expense of President Nicolas Sarkozy, a poll showed on Wednesday.

The poll results suggest the opposition Socialists would be well-placed to win the May 2012 run-off as the presence of Nation Front leader Marine Le Pen in a second round would likely trigger a massive vote for her opponent.

The survey by pollsters Harris Interactive found that IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former Socialist finance minister, would comfortably win the first round if he decides to contest the elections.

Mr Strauss-Kahn scored 30 per cent approval, versus 21 per cent for National Front leader Ms Le Pen, while Mr Sarkozy came in third with 19 per cent, the poll showed. » | Thursday, April 21, 2011

Marine Le Pen rate son grand oral d'économie
LE POINT: La présidente du FN a tenté d'expliquer son programme économique pour la France. Sans convaincre.

"De quoi ? Qui ça ? Ah oui ! Borloo a quitté l'UMP... Très bien, vous savez, moi, je suis pour la concurrence !" plaisante Marine Le Pen, vendredi matin. Pour la concurrence en politique, peut-être, mais en économie, rien n'est moins sûr... Tout sourire, lunettes de soleil sur la tête, veste couleur crème et bottines noires, la présidente du Front national fume une dernière cigarette avant de se livrer à un exercice dont elle n'a pas l'habitude. Son équipe a en effet convié des journalistes économiques - et non pas les "politiques", qu'elle connaît bien - à un "petit-déjeuner de travail " pour expliciter les grandes orientations de son programme dans ce secteur. "Nous ne sommes pas légitimes que sur l'immigration et l'insécurité", veut-elle convaincre. Elle souhaite démontrer que son programme n'est "ni simpliste, ni fantaisiste, ni ringard". » | Par Pauline de Saint Remy | Vendredi 08 Avril 2011

Kantonalwahlen in Frankreich: Sarkozys Partei verliert - Front National legt zu
FRANFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Im Stichwahlgang der Kantonalwahlen in Frankreich hat die rechtsextreme Partei Front National starke Stimmenzuwächse verzeichnet. Die Partei von Präsident Sarkozy UMP verlor dagegen massiv an Stimmen.

In der französischen Präsidentenpartei UMP ist am Montag ein Richtungsstreit über den Umgang mit dem rechtsextremen Front National (FN) entbrannt. Im Stichwahlgang der Kantonalwahlen am Sonntag hatte die von Marine Le Pen geführte Partei große Stimmengewinne verzeichnet. In den 403 Kantonen, in denen FN-Kandidaten im zweiten Wahlgang antreten konnten, steigerte die Partei ihr Ergebnis von 620.000 Stimmen im ersten Wahlgang auf 915.000 Stimmen im zweiten Wahlgang. » | F.A.Z./mic. | Montag, 28. März 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy and François Fillon Split Over How to Handle National Front
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An embarrassing split between President Nicolas Sarkozy and his prime minister, François Fillon, emerged on Tuesday over how to deal with the threat from France's far-Right National Front.

Marine Le Pen's National Front (FN) made historic gains in the first round of local elections on Sunday, only trailing Mr Sarkozy's UMP party by two percentage points on 15 per cent.

The Socialists, who came top on 25 per cent, are calling for a "Republic front" against the FN in next Sunday's second round, where the far-Right is present in almost 400 "cantons" in the country's 100 departments. The Left is urging its supporters to vote UMP in cantons where it is an also-ran to keep the FN out.

Several UMP moderates called on its electorate to vote tactically. But Mr Sarkozy refused to explicitly urge his supporters to vote for the Left in the 200 or so cantons where the race is between Socialists and the FN. He told party leaders that a call to vote Socialist "would be tantamount to sending a signal of collusion between the UMP and Socialist Party".

However, on Monday night, prime minister Fillon, who has reportedly been ill at ease with attempts by Mr Sarkozy to veer Right to attract FN support, caused confusion by telling UMP members: "You must vote against the National Front". » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Tuesday, March 22, 2011

French National Front Makes "Historic" Gains in Local Elections
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen's far-Right National Front party has made "historic" gains in the first round of local elections in France, only narrowly trailing Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party.

In what observers called a "severe warning" to the French President, the UMP obtained just over 17 per cent of the vote.

That is less than two per cent more than the National Front (FN), which is enjoying a revival under the leadership of Miss Le Pen, 42, daughter of party founder, Jean-Marie.

In the last such elections in 2008, the FN only mustered five per cent.
Miss Le Pen described the results as "historic" and called on supporters to "reinforce the Marine blue wave" in next Sunday's second round.

The Socialists came way out in front with 25 per cent in round one, which was marred by record abstention levels. A Left-wing party and ecologists were each credited nine and eight per cent of the vote respectively. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, March 21, 2011

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Marine Le Pen Emerges from Father's Shadow
THE GUARDIAN: Le Pen fille says she'll lead the Front National into the battle for republican values in France

Marine Le Pen surveys the mountain of letters on her desk, complaining she's run out of autographed photos to send to fans. Although Le Pen fires handguns at shooting ranges for a hobby, Sarah Palin isn't an idol. Instead, she gestures out of the office window to a statue of Joan of Arc, the mascot of the Front National, which for decades under Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, was the most successful far-right, xenophobic party in western Europe. Under the new leadership of "Le Pen, Fille", the party headquarters on a grey suburban street in Nanterre has been decorated with national symbols: a towering fibreglass French cockerel stands guard over a rockery.

But on her office wall, to emphasise Le Pen's plea that she is not antisemitic, is an abstract painting by an Israeli artist and friend. "It's called the top of the world because that's where she said I was aiming ... well maybe not that high! Ha!" Le Pen throws her head back and delivers her trademark Sid James laugh.

Le Pen, or simply "Marine" as the nation casually calls her, has sparked the biggest political panic attack France has seen for a decade. The "Marine effect" on Monday brought a historic 15% for the Front National in the first round of local elections, striking fear into both left and right for this week's second round. The 42-year-old, twice-divorced, mother-of-three is so popular that several polls show her topping next year's French presidential first round and sailing through to the final round run-off. She is on a crusade to "soften" her party and strip away the old overtones of racist, antisemitic extremists while defending the core of her father's nationalism, and courting a new white-collar electorate fearful of crime, immigration, Muslims and losing their jobs.

She is the youngest of three blonde daughters who for decades were wheeled out by their father to symbolise the true French nation, and who were teased at school that "papa" was a "fascist". At eight, Le Pen survived a bomb attack on the family as they slept in their beds. Later, her parents' gruesome public divorce battle saw her mother pose in Playboy for revenge. All three Le Pen daughters publicly "lived and breathed the party", married and divorced Front National party workers, in Marine's case twice.

Trained as a lawyer, she has worked for the party machine for 25 years, and has now taken to the campaign trail with her partner, Louis Aliot, on the party's executive. "It's true that there's almost an intimacy between me and the French public. They feel a particular link to me because I'm not part of that self-proclaimed elite running France today," she said. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Monday, March 21, 2011

Élections cantonales 2011 : la "vague bleu Marine" se confirme dans les urnes
LE POINT: Grâce à la division de la droite, le FN obtient plus de 15 % des voix au premier tour du scrutin.

"La fameuse vague bleu Marine existe bel et bien !" Au siège du Front national, à Nanterre, dans les Hauts-de-Seine, l'atmosphère est à la fête. Avec 15,26 % des voix, dimanche, au premier tour des élections cantonales (consultez les résultats canton par canton), le parti de Marine Le Pen confirme dans les urnes sa forte poussée dans les sondages et talonne l'UMP, qui atteint 17,13 % (estimation dimanche minuit). La numéro un du FN jubile : "C'est un record historique dans des conditions difficiles, puisque l'UMP et le PS sont aux manettes depuis trente ans, et donc très implantés localement." Vêtue simplement d'un jean et d'un chemisier noir, Marine Le Pen analyse : "Ce scrutin confirme que le vote Front national n'est plus un vote de protestation, mais bel et bien un vote d'adhésion." Le FN affronterait en duel le PS ou l'UMP au second tour dans 206 cantons. » | Ségolène Gros de Larquier | Lundi 21 Mars 2011

French Far-right Leader Visits Lampedusa
Just weeks into her new job but France's far right leader was heckled during a visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa. 
Marie Le Pen arrived there to visit a centre for illegal migrants. Nearly 9,000 people have arrived on the island since January, many fleeing unrest North Africa. 
Al Jazeera's Shamim Chowdhury reports

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L’adhésion aux idées de l’extrême droite progresse en France
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: L’adhésion des Français aux idées du Front National (FN) a progressé de 6 points depuis le début de l’année. Quelque 28% d’entre eux se déclarent être en accord avec les opinions du parti d’extrême droite.

Désormais, seulement 61% des Français disent ne pas adhérer aux idées du FN alors que celles-ci, depuis une dizaine d’années, étaient jusqu’ici désapprouvées par 80% des sondés, précise le sondage réalisé par l’institut TNS Sofres et diffusé mardi matin par la chaîne de télévision privée Canal+.

Avec 28% de Français d’accord avec les idées du FN, on retrouve le niveau de mai 2002, lorsque Jean-Marie Le Pen s’était qualifié pour le second tour de la présidentielle. » | ATS / AFP | Mardi 15 Mars 2011

Marine Le Pen Says Europe Can't Handle Migrants
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen, the daughter of France's longtime far-right leader who now heads his National Front party, on Monday advocated turning migrants back to sea before they can reach European shores after she toured a centre for illegal migrants on Italy's southernmost island of Lampedusa.

A group of young protesters yelled "racist" at Miss Le Pen as she toured the island, where some 8,700 north Africans have fled unrest that has spread from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya since January.

Despite her party's anti-immigrant politics, Miss Le Pen, 42, had insisted before her arrival that the visit is aimed at gathering information, not at provocation.

"Europe is impotent and has not come up with any solution," Miss Le Pen said. Instead of patrolling near European shores, she said Europe's navies "in reality ... should go as close as possible to the coasts from where the clandestine boats departed to send them back."

Europe, she said, cannot handle the influx, which "is adding poverty to poverty, and disorder to disorder."

She warned that the migrants were arriving "in proportions that Italy can no longer handle."

"In truth, we are about to witness a catastrophe," she said. » | Tuesday, March 15, 2011

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