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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Marine Le Pen: Deadline passes for National Front leader to repay EU funds | Marine Le Pen: Deadline passes for National Front leader to repay EU funds |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A European Parliament deadline for France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen to return more than €300,000 (£257,000; $321,000) it says she has misspent, has passed. | |
| The presidential candidate had until midnight to repay the money, but said she had no intention of doing so. | The presidential candidate had until midnight to repay the money, but said she had no intention of doing so. |
| The parliament says she wrongly used the funds to pay an aide at the National Front's headquarters in Paris. | The parliament says she wrongly used the funds to pay an aide at the National Front's headquarters in Paris. |
| She says she is the victim of a politically motivated vendetta. | She says she is the victim of a politically motivated vendetta. |
| If Ms Le Pen does not repay the money, the parliament says it will retain half her salary as an MEP and she will also lose other allowances. | If Ms Le Pen does not repay the money, the parliament says it will retain half her salary as an MEP and she will also lose other allowances. |
| Ms Le Pen is one of the front-runners in the French presidential election to be held in April and May. | Ms Le Pen is one of the front-runners in the French presidential election to be held in April and May. |
| Polls suggest that she will make it to the run-off where she is likely to face conservative candidate Francois Fillon or centrist Emmanuel Macron. | Polls suggest that she will make it to the run-off where she is likely to face conservative candidate Francois Fillon or centrist Emmanuel Macron. |
| "I will not submit to the persecution, a unilateral decision taken by political opponents... without proof and without waiting for a judgement from the court action I have started," she told Reuters news agency on Tuesday. | "I will not submit to the persecution, a unilateral decision taken by political opponents... without proof and without waiting for a judgement from the court action I have started," she told Reuters news agency on Tuesday. |
| The money the European Parliament wants returned was used to pay the salary of Catherine Griset, a close friend of Ms Le Pen as well as her cabinet director. | The money the European Parliament wants returned was used to pay the salary of Catherine Griset, a close friend of Ms Le Pen as well as her cabinet director. |
| The funds were conditional on Ms Griset spending most of her working time in Brussels or Strasbourg. | The funds were conditional on Ms Griset spending most of her working time in Brussels or Strasbourg. |
| However, the parliament says most of her time was instead spent working in the National Front's headquarters in Paris. | However, the parliament says most of her time was instead spent working in the National Front's headquarters in Paris. |