Former National Rally President Defends Loan Contracted with Russian Bank During Parliamentary Inquiry Commission

Marine Le Pen defended herself on Wednesday in the National Assembly from everything “Russian tropism”assuring that she would never have signed the loan contracted in Russia by her party if that had committed her to “anything” with Vladimir Putin.

The former president of the National Rally (RN) was heard for almost four hours by the parliamentary inquiry committee on foreign interference.

A loan of 9.4 million euros in 2014

At the center of the discussions, a loan of 9.4 million euros contracted with a Czech-Russian bank in 2014 by the former FN, then led by Marine Le Pen.

Did it give rise to political pressure or compensation? “If that had committed me to anything, I wouldn’t have signed,” said the leader of the RN, swearing to have “nothing to blame in this case” and reporting a loan “perfectly legal, perfectly verified”.

She assured that, if elected in 2027, she will ban political parties from foreign loans.

She also promised the creation of a “democracy bank” to help the parties in particular finance their electoral campaigns, a recurring idea including in the majority but to which Emmanuel Macron has never followed up.

The unsuccessful three-time presidential candidate dwelt on the critical financial situation her party was facing at the time, as well as on her difficulties in finding a European creditor.

At the beginning of May, before the same commission of inquiry, former FN MEP Jean-Luc Schaffhauser explained that he had been instructed by Marine Le Pen to find funds: “We could only find the Chinese side, Iran, or Russia”he said. “Marine Le Pen considered Russia to be the best.”“It was that or die” of the party, the far-right leader confirmed on Wednesday.

FN support for Russia after the invasion of Crimea

Was Vladimir Putin informed about the negotiation?“It is obvious that if the power in place was against it, the deal would not have been done”noted Jean-Luc Schaffhauser. “I sign a loan with a bank, I don’t sign a loan with Vladimir Putin”replied Marine Le Pen indirectly.

Could the transaction, however, explain the support of Frontist leaders for Russia after the invasion of Crimeaasks the committee. “Crimea was Russian for two centuries, it was Ukrainian for sixty years”, replied Marine Le Pen_, assuring that “the arrival or not of a loan has not changed one iota the opinions that have always been ours.”_

What two support for the 2014 referendumthe sincerity of which has been contested by all international observers? “I note that there were no refugees from Crimea”quipped Marine Le Pen. “It was perfectly permissible for international bodies to reorganize a new one (…) to verify that people had voted freely”.

The opposition of the RN to the sanctions against Russia

THE trips by some RN elected officials on site to support the Russian positions? “Each MEP is free”. Marine Le Pen’s opposition to the sanctions taken by France and the European Union against Russia after the annexation of Crimea? “I had the same position as Les Républicains”she swept away.

“I formally deny having made any decision whatsoever to please anyone”summarized the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, noting that “The only obligation we have when we take out a loan is to repay it”.

bank failure

Still, the case took an incredible turn when the bank went bankrupt, its debts being then bought in cascade by different companies. The last, to which the RN continues to repay its debt, is deemed as sulphurous as it is close to the Kremlin.

“I have no responsibility in the structure that buys the debts”defended Marine Le Pen. “If it had been La Redoute that had bought it, it would have been the same level of obligation for me: to repay my loan”.

Under the fire of questions from majority and opposition deputies, the one who had been received in the Kremlin a few days before the 2017 presidential election assured not to have “never had” a conversation about this loan and its buyout with Vladimir Putin. “Never! Nor with the political figures I met, in the Duma or elsewhere”.

The commission of inquiry was launched by the RN group in the Assembly at the end of 2022, precisely to try to cut short the accusations of making the far-right party an agent of Russian influence in France. The other camps denounce a “diversion” of the National Rally. Its conclusions are due in early June.

AFP