Marine Le Pen during the announcement of the preliminary results of the first round of the French presidential electionBRUSSELS, Apr 17 >The European Parliament intends to recover a large amount from the French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and her associates after the publication in the French edition of Mediapart of information about the alleged illegal spending of the politician during her tenure as an MEP, the EP representative told Agence France-Presse. The information appeared shortly before the decisive second round of voting at the presidential elections in France, which will be held on April 24. «We are talking about unjustified payments totaling 617,000 euros. In the coming weeks, we will begin to recover these funds from the relevant persons,» the source said.According to the report of the European Anti-Corruption Office , which the media refers to, refers to the compensation received by Le Pen and her associates in the European Parliament. Le Pen was an MEP from 2004 to 2017. «/>Le Pen called for an end to cooperation with Germany in the field of weapons. In particular, it is indicated that she and her fellow party members from the «National Association» spent funds from the budget of the European Parliament for purposes related to domestic French politics. In addition, it is noted that this money was used for personal purposes or for the services of companies close to the National Association party. About 137,000 euros are planned to be recovered directly from Le Pen. As an example, the media cite information about spending 23,100 euros on promotional items (bags, pens, key rings) for the «National Rally», which were allegedly purchased for the party's congress in Lyon in 2014. It is also alleged that Le Pen requested compensation for travel and hotel accommodation for deputies in connection with their participation in a conference on the financial crisis in the EU, which eventually discussed intra-party elections. The first round of the French presidential election took place on April 10. According to the French Interior Ministry, incumbent President Macron won 27.84 percent of the vote, the leader of the far-right National Rally party, Le Pen, 23.15 percent. » />Russia will elect French President
