French Russia-linked party leading EU parliament elections poll

France’s Russian-linked nationalist party, the
recently renamed Rassemblement National (RN) led by Marine Le Pen, is leading
the polls for the May 2019 elections for the European Parliament, the Reuters
news agency reported, citing an Ifop poll published on Nov. 4. RN has 21%
support, compared to 19% for the Republique En Marche party by French President
Emmanuel Macron. Anti-European Union parties have 30% support among French
voters, the report said, citing the poll, which was conducted on Oct. 30-31
among 1,000 respondents.

Zenon Zawada: This poll
merely confirms our consistent view that the political tide in Europe is in
Russia’s favor in the mid- to long term. While Russia-aligned, nationalist
forces won’t be taking control of key EU institutions in the next five years,
they will gain much more influence. This is among the key reasons that we
believe Russia is continuing its hybrid war in Ukraine, despite the economic
damage from Western sanctions. The Russian leadership is convinced that the
European leadership will begin to relax sanctions in the mid- to long term
(five- to ten years).