FRANCE/FILE: President Francois Hollande and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen vote in France in the European elections / Femen activists protest against far-right

Record ID: 695368

  • Title: FRANCE/FILE: President Francois Hollande and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen vote in France in the European elections / Femen activists protest against far-right
  • Date: 25th May 2014
  • Summary: PROTESTERS FROM FEMEN GROUP DRESSED AS NURSES PROTESTING AGAINST NATIONAL FRONT/ FEMEN SAYING (French): Free Anti-fascist vaccine' FEMEN PROTESTER HOLDING SYRINGE FEMEN PROTESTERS WALKING JOURNALISTS WITH FEMEN PROTESTERS PROTESTERS AT DOOR INSIDE BUILDING PROTESTERS WALKING OUT OF BUILDING PROTESTERS NEXT TO POSTER OF LE PEN VARIOUS OF PROTEST IN ACTION
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1MJKRFT13BYA941VZC6AA39A1
  • Story Text: French President Francois Hollande and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen cast their votes on Sunday (May 25) on the final day of European elections.
    France, Germany, Spain and Poland are among the major EU member states voting on Sunday, representing the bulk of the 388 million Europeans eligible to cast ballots and elect the 751 deputies to sit in the European Parliament in 2014-2019.
    Across Europe, around a quarter of seats could be won by anti-EU or protest parties on the far-right and far-left, almost double of their standing at the last election in 2009, according to opinion polls. But the parliament will remain dominated by pro-European centre-right, centre-left, liberal and Greens parties which often vote together in support of EU legislation.
    In France, final polls put Le Pen's anti-immigrant National Front party, which wants to leave the euro and restore national border controls and trade barriers, neck-and-neck with the conservative UMP party ahead of Sunday's vote, with Hollande's Socialists a distant third.
    Hollande cast his vote at a polling station in Tulle, central France, and called upon citizens of Europe to be united against racism. His comments came one day after three people were shot dead at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.
    "We must have our eyes turned towards the values of Europe, the principles of Europe. We must more than ever be mobilised against racism and anti-semitism and conscious that Europe holds values, assures principles, and that it is necessary to fight, including to vote, to respect them," he said.
    Le Pen voted in the northern French town of Henin-Beaumont, where the National Front won power in local elections earlier this year.
    "The National Front did very well in municipal (elections), if it does as well, as I hope, in the European (elections), that will show it is a true government party. It's score is increasing irrespective of the type of election," Le Pen said.
    Le Pen has listed Geert De Wilders' Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO), Italy's Northern League, Belgium's Vlaams Belang, the Sweden Democrats and Lithuanian ex-president Rolandas Paksas' party as possible partners that shared common principles.
    De Wilders' anti-EU, anti-Islam Freedom Party had been forecast to top the poll in the Netherlands but was beaten into fourth place by pro-European parties in a surprise reverse, according to exit polls.
    The unexpected result in the Netherlands did not deter Le Pen's hopes to form a Eurosceptic group in the European parliament.
    "That doesn't change anything for me, whether there are four Dutch members of the European parliament or five, that in no way puts into question the possibility, of course, of the creation of a group in the parliament," she told reporters.
    Political analysts said the poor showing by the PVV may not be mirrored by the National Front in France, but said it could still alter interpretations of the elections as a whole.
    Ukrainian feminist group Femen staged a protest in Henin-Beaumont against the National Front, with topless protesters dressed as nurses and holding syringes and offering free anti-fascist vaccines. Activists also staged a protest earlier this month against Le Pen's party during the National Front's annual May Day march.
    Voter participation in France was at 15.70% at midday, a slightly higher level than at previous elections five years ago, the Interior ministry announced.
    Consolidated results, including the allotment of seats in the parliament, will be announced at around 2100 GMT on Sunday.
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