Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly reached out to Marion Maréchal-Le Pen — French far-right leader and niece of Marine Le Pen. Ms Le Pen wrote on Twitter on Sunday that representatives of Mr Trump had invited her to “work together,” according to the Washington Post. “I answer yes to the invitation of Stephen Bannon, CEO of @realDonaldTrump presidential campaign, to work together,” Marion Maréchal-Le Pen tweeted.
She became the youngest in France when she was elected to the Assemblée Nationale in 2012 at the age of 22. According to the Post, her tweet reflected a “highly unusual phenomenon: an American president-elect seeking to forge relationships with ultranationalist and populist factions overseas that are often sharply critical of their countries’ governments.” It said it also raised the question of whether Mr Trump and his representatives have been reaching out to foreign populist parties before first reaching out to foreign heads of state.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers were to hold special talks on Sunday to discuss Mr Trump’s victory. But the talks were to take place without the foreign ministers of Britain and France, apparently reflecting their concerns about over-dramatising European fears. The informal dinner has been called by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the eve of a scheduled monthly meeting of foreign ministers.
