(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) QNA) - Marine Le Pen, French presidential candidate and leader of National Front political party, sees no reason for the French authorities' hostile attitude towards Russia.
"I see no reasons that would justify the current hostile attitude of the French authorities towards Russia," she was quoted by TASS news agency as saying at a meeting of foreign policy committee of Russia's lower house of parliament, State Duma.
"We have always believed that Russia and France need to maintain and develop the ties that have bound us for a long time," she said. "In the historical perspective, our bilateral relations always developed in both the cultural and trade areas, as well as in the energy sector." The French politician said she hopes France will eventually cancel the black lists of Russian citizens. "I have always pressed for the abolition of sanctions, which I regard as counter-productive." "I do hope that France will be able to achieve a situation in which we will be able to cancel the black lists at least in the territory of our country." "I believe that the ban preventing members of parliaments from meeting each other and working together is a violation of democratic rights and freedoms," Le Pen said, adding that the black lists of Russian citizens still remained in effect largely under pressure from the EU.
Le Pen is in Moscow at the invitation of the Duma foreign policy committee. Ties between Moscow and several western capitals, including Paris, have cooled due to the situation in Ukraine, which prompted western sanctions on Russian companies and officials. (QNA)
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