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BERLINRussias ruling party signed a five-year cooperation agreement with the anti-immigrant Freedom Party of Austria, one of the clearest signs that the Kremlin is seeking to deepen ties with nationalist and antiestablishment forces in the West.
The two-page agreement, reached in Moscow after Freedom Party leaders met with officials from Russian President Vladimir Putins United Russia party, spells out a common commitment to holding regular joint meetings and public events while working to strengthen social and economic ties between Russia and Austria.
The accord is the latest example of Russian efforts to forge ties with antiestablishment, euroskeptic parties in Europe, many of which in turn promote closer ties to Moscow and rolling back the European Union. Marine Le Pens National Front has tapped a Russian bank for a loan to help fund its election efforts in France, for instance. Meanwhile, antiestablishment politicians such as Ms. Le Pen, Britains Nigel Farage and Geert Wilders, head of the Netherlands Party for Freedom, have bashed the EU in interviews on Russian television.
The Freedom Party, which has campaigned on xenophobic, anti-Islam rhetoric and casts itself as an alternative to Europes political establishment, is in the opposition in Austrian parliament.
Freedom Party officials also traveled to the U.S. just before the U.S. election for meetings with allies of President-elect Trump. Johann Gudenus, a senior Freedom Party official, said his delegation discussed with the Russians the opportunities for better U.S.-Russian ties after Mr. Trump takes over and the need to end Western sanctions on Russia.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-...th-anti-immigrant-party-in-austria-1482170810