Le Pen, Bardella Reject Russian ‘Intimidation’ Ahead of Vote

French policies will not be influenced by Russian “intimidation”, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and her party’s chief Jordan Bardella said on Saturday as they positioned themselves ahead of elections next year. The two politicians from the National Rally (RN) party – seen in the past as friendly towards Moscow – condemned Russia’s “hostile” acts against France.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Voter surveys put Le Pen as the front-runner in the first round of France’s presidential election to take place in April next year, despite an appeals court upholding a graft conviction against her. Bardella is expected to become her prime minister if she ends up winning. Their joint statement distancing themselves from Moscow came after the Kremlin this week ordered the seizure of Russian subsidiaries of several major French businesses, along with the subsidiary of Swiss food giant Nestle. Moscow said the move was a blow against “unfriendly countries” that back Ukraine, which it has invaded and is fighting to conquer. French President Emmanuel Macron – who is not contesting next year’s election, having reached his two-term limit – on Friday hosted a meeting of French political leaders to discuss the growing threat from Moscow. Le Pen did not attend the meeting. Le Pen’s rivals in the presidential race accuse her of being cosy with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Strikes Russian Buk-M3, Nebo-U Radar, and Drone Site Ukrainian forces hit a Russian Buk-M3 air defense complex and a Nebo-U radar station, the General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. Her party previously contracted a 9.4-million-euro loan with a Moscow bank, which was paid off in 2023. Although Le Pen travelled to Moscow in 2017 to see Putin, she went on to condemn Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine launched in 2022. In her statement with Bardella on Saturday, she said that Russia “cannot hope to directly or indirectly dictate the policies” of France through “intimidation, threats, destabilisation or psychological pressure”. They added: “No provocation, no clandestine operation and no destabilisation action will be able to push France to facilitate Russia’s war aims in Ukraine.”