Far-right leaders vow to ‘save Europe’ at French gathering

Representatives of Eurosceptic and far-right groups from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Hungary and The Netherlands gathered at the National Front (FN) party conference in Lyon, 29-30 November 2014 to warn France and Europe of a 'neo-Ottoman' onslaught of Islam-preaching, benefit-stealing migrants.

Seven foreign politicians were invited by the National Front (FN) leader, Marine Le Pen, to showcase her so-called 'Europe of nations' – which she hoped to build on the ruins of an increasingly unpopular EU.

Other guests included the deputy chairman of the Russian Duma, Andrei Isayev, Dutch politician Geert Wilders and Heinz-Christian Stracher, head of the Austrian People's Party.

The group also indicated growing closeness to the Russia of Vladimir Putin.

In January 2015 in the context of the terrorist killings at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that 'We should not look at economic immigration as if it had any use, because it only brings trouble and threats to European people ... Therefore, immigration must be stopped. That's the Hungarian stance'.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Le Pen borrowed €9mn from Kremlin-linked bank http://www.europeansources.info/record/le-pen-borrowed-e9mn-from-kremlin-linked-bank/

Political Capital Institute: Analysis: The Russian Connection: The spread of pro-Russian policies on the European far right, March 2014 http://www.riskandforecast.com/post/in-depth-analysis/the-russian-connection_803.html

Geert Wilders Weblog, 02.12.14: Text of speech of Geert Wilders at the Congress of the Front National (Lyon, France, 29.11.14) http://www.geertwilders.nl/index.php/94-english/1897-video-speech-geert-wilders-congress-of-the-front-national-lyon-29-11-2014

Deutsche Welle, 30.11.14: Le Pen basks in attention at Front National conference http://dw.de/p/1DxBF

The Guardian, 08.12.14, [Opinion]: We should beware Russia’s links with Europe’s right http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/08/russia-europe-right-putin-front-national-eu

openDemocracy: Can Europe Make It?, 08.12.14: Russia's Trojan Horse https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/cas-mudde/russia%27s-trojan-horse

ESO: Background information: 'A Partner for Russia': Europe's Far Right Flirts with Moscow http://www.europeansources.info/record/a-partner-for-russia-europes-far-right-flirts-with-moscow/

ESO: Background information: Orban demonises immigrants at Paris march http://www.europeansources.info/record/orban-demonises-immigrants-at-paris-march/

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