09 January 2014

Telegraph: FN's Marine Le Pen says she wants to "bring the Brussels wall down"

The FN is just one of several anti-immigration and anti-EU parties gaining ground in Europe, where many have lost faith in the ability of the EU to help kick-start their faltering economies.

Nigel Farage, the head of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), ruled out joining forces with the FN, stating: "We've made it clear that we don't intend to do a political deal at any point with French National Front". "I am sure that a new eurosceptic group of parties comprising Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders and others will happen, but UKIP will not be part of it", he has said in the past

Miss Le Pen pledged to do all in her power to facilitate the collapse of the EU. "How to improve the European Union? By making it collapse. We brought the Berlin Wall down. I want to bring the Brussels wall down", she said. "I expect one thing only from the European system and that's for it to explode."

"We have to wait for everything to fall flat on its face, contribute to that if possible, to bring about the project of a Europe of free nations", said Miss Le Pen, who is already a European MP. "And that of course can only happen with the disappearance of a huge majority of current EU structures."

Miss Le Pen has forged an alliance with Dutch anti-Islamic leader Geert Wilders aimed at creating a eurosceptic block at the European Parliament after elections due in May. This could also include Belgium's Vlaams Belang, Italy's Lega Nord and Austria's Freedom Party. "The role that we will have to play – us patriotic elected representatives at the European Parliament – will mainly be to block this federal European Union from making any new headway", she said.

In a December interview, José Manuel Barroso, EU Commission President, admitted that the rise of populist and extremist parties was a major concern. "I am vehemently calling on Europeans to step out of the comfort zone, to quit their silence, to not always let extremes make their move, to have – in France too – the courage to defend Europe", he told AFP.

Germany's new foreign minister launched an attack on "brainless" eurosceptics who pose a threat to the existence of the European Union. Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: "We must not avoid confrontation with populists, nationalists, with these brainless people who call themselves eurosceptics".

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