Marine Le Pen Reelected as Leader of France's Front National

Marine Le Pen was reelected as leader of the French far-right Front National at a party congress, held in Lyon on Sunday.

The incumbent leader Le Pen was the only candidate for the leadership position and she won with 100 % support, Le Monde reports.

Le Pen has been at the head of the Front National since 2011, when she succeeded her father and founder of the party Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The Front National has seen a surge in popularity since Marine Le Pen took over the party's helm, managing to tame the extreme xenophobic ideology that had been established under her father.

In the European Parliament elections this year, the Front National achieved its first nationwide victory since its foundation in 1972, winning a quarter of the French vote.

Le Pen's reelection comes a day after that of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the leadership of the right-wing main opposition party UMP.

Le Pen and Sarkozy are expected to be the two final contenders in the forthcoming presidential elections in 2017, due to the rising unpopularity of incumbent Socialist Francois Hollande.

The Front National is demonstrating close ties with Russia since the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict.

Members of parliament from the United Russia party, which is close to President Vladimir Putin, attended the Front National's congress during the weekend.

The Front National has protested against the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, and criticised the French government's decision to suspend the delivery of a Mistral warship to Russia.

Recently, a party official confirmed that the Front National has received funding from the First Czech Russian Bank.

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