National Front

A week after finishing in first place in the first round of the French regional elections, leading in six regions, the National Front finds itself in control of none.

The National Front, a far-right French political party with financial backing from Moscow, won the first round of France’s regional elections, taking the lead in six of France’s 13 regions and reaping 28 percent of the overall vote.

French voters are casting ballots Sunday for regional leaders in an unusually tense security climate, expected to favor conservative and far right candidates and strike a new blow against the governing Socialists.

A Russian loan to France’s National Front. Invitations to Moscow for leaders of Austria’s Freedom Party. Praise for Vladimir Putin from the head of Britain’s anti-European Union party.