Leading Nationalists Plan European Pact French, Russian Politicians Predict Strong Political Influence

Two of Europe’s most outspoken nationalists announced plans Saturday to form a European union of extreme-right forces, saying only that could prevent wars.

French right-wing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen and Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky predicted that nationalism will soon become the dominating political force throughout Europe.

“The voters of France and Russia and the majority of European states are all moving towards something new - a third force, and that force is the national patriotic force,” Zhirinovsky said at a joint news conference in Moscow.

The two politicians said they would meet in Moscow in late April to map out a “Union of Right Forces of Europe.” They did not elaborate on how the alliance could prevent war.

Le Pen is in Russia to attend Zhirinovsky’s church wedding Sunday. The Russian politician and his wife were married 25 years ago in a civil ceremony.

Zhirinovsky’s “ideas and plans are very close to ours,” Le Pen said. “We both must become president for the benefit of Europe.”

Zhirinovsky, whose misleadingly named Liberal Democratic Party has a significant number of seats in Russia’s parliament, is one of the leading candidates in June’s presidential elections.

He often rails against Jews, Asians, people from the Caucasus Mountains and other non-Slavs, and urges the restoration of the Russian Empire’s 19th-century borders.

Le Pen leads France’s extremeright National Front Party, which controls four city halls and has the support of about 15 percent of the electorate. The National Front advocates expelling all immigrants from France.

Zhirinovsky also warned East European countries against trying to join NATO, saying that would make them the battlefield in another world war.

“Our neighbors must know that if they let NATO soldiers approach Russia’s borders, Russia would destroy both NATO and the territories that are putting the world on the brink of war,” Zhirinovsky said.

Many Russian leaders, including President Boris Yeltsin, have spoken out strongly against NATO’s proposed eastward expansion, although none has gone as far as firebrand Zhirinovsky.