National Rally’s Hélène Laporte: Defender of Russian Policies in Europe

Hélène Laporte is a French politician. She was elected as a National Rally Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 European parliamentary election. She was vice-head of the National Assembly from 2022 to 2024. She belongs to and serves as vice-president of National Rally (National Front), a party known for its pro-Russian tilt. Laporte is an executive bureau and one of the prominent members of the National Rally. Based on her political activities and affiliations, she has been known as pro-Russian. 

She was invited to Russia in 2020 as an “international expert” to monitor the constitutional referendum that permitted Vladimir Putin to be a contender for the Russian presidential elections until 2036. Despite several allegations of deception, she hailed the referendum a “democracy lesson”. 10 MEPs from the National Rally were invited to attend this referendum. She also commended the organization of the election in the Russian journal Ria Novosti.

It also came to light that at least six French Members of Parliament who have been selected from the winning party, National Front, have performed services to the Russian government at a time in their political employment. These are Hélène Laporte, Pierre Gentillet, Jean-Lin Lacapelle, Rémy Berthonneau, Andréa Kotarac and Julie Lechanteux.

National Rally represented Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “defender of the Christian heritage of European civilisation.” The National Front believes that Ukraine has been subjugated by the United States, via the Revolution of Dignity. The National Front slams anti-Russian feelings in Eastern Europe and the submission of Western Europe to “Washington’s” interests in the region. National Front is very crucial to the threats of sanctions directed by the international community against Russia: “European governments should seek a solution through diplomacy rather than pushing threats that could lead to an escalation.” National Front claims that the United States is leading a new Cold War against Russia.

Luke Harding reported in The Guardian that the National Front’s MEPs including Hélène Laporte were a “pro-Russian bloc.”  In 2014, the Nouvel Observateur stated that the Russian government assumed the National Front was “capable of holding power in France and changing the course of European history in Moscow’s favour.” According to the French media, party executives had frequent communication with Russian ambassador Alexander Orlov and Marine Le Pen earned multiple trips to Moscow. In May 2015, one of her advisers, Emmanuel Leroy, followed an event in Donetsk marking the “independence” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

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