National Front

French PM warns about rise of National Front

PARIS -- The far-right National Front is on track to win more votes than any other party in the first round of French local elections, Reuters quoted a poll on Monday.

At the same time, France's Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls spoke of "fear" that the party could also in win the presidential election in 2017.

Marine Le Pen was reelected as leader of the French far-right Front National at a party congress, held in Lyon on Sunday.

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A former French local election candidate for the far-right National Front (FN) has been sentenced to nine months in prison for comparing the country's black justice minister to a monkey.
      

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said June 30 that riots following Algeria’s World Cup win on June 26 proved that French immigration policy had failed.

Delirious celebrations in France when Algeria qualified for the the second round of the World Cup turned violent in some French cities.

The voters from the 28 member states of the European Union (EU) cast their ballots for the European Parliament for four days between May 22 and 25. The results were somewhat expected, but shocking for many nevertheless.

Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), has shed light on his hopes to establish an alliance with Italy's 5-Star Movement in the European Parliament.

Farage said he "met [5-Star leader] Beppe Grillo last week", as he was quoted by Euronews.

As Marine Le Pen, who heads France’s far-right National Front (FN), tries to form a eurosceptic group in Brussels with other like-minded political movements, take a look at her party’s policies. The FN doesn't like being called "far right". But it remains unashamedly protectionist and populist, while espousing a strong desire to reduce immigration – especially from Africa.

The European Parliament elections represent a victory for Euroskeptics. Non-affiliated lawmakers, who are mostly Euroskeptics, won 105 seats in the European Parliament. This means that the Euroskeptics have gained an extra 72 seats compared to the previous elections.

Unlike Bulgaria, where the nationalist parties suffered a crushing defeat in the European elections, throughout the rest of the EU they are gaining ground. 

The French National Front and UK Independence Party both performed strongly, while the three big centrist blocs in parliament all lost seats.

By Paul Taylor, Robin Emmott and Justyna Pawlak

Eurosceptic nationalists scored stunning victories in European Parliament elections in France and Britain on Sunday as critics of the European Union more than doubled their seats in a continent-wide protest vote against austerity and unemployment.