In bed with Marine

There's nefarious, budding love affair shimmering in European political higher echelons, between vivaciously chauvinistic & Joan of Arc fan Marine Le Pen, leader of far-right National Front (FN) party in France and Russian czar-in-practice Vladimir Putin. They have after all so many shared interests & ideals: nationalism, xenophobia, homophobia, a desire to neuter or dismantle the EU, a construed religiosity (as Marine said of Putin, he is the “defender of the Christian heritage of European civilization”) and an alleged love of wall-hanged taxidermed beasts. Hence, Marine's multiple visits to Moscow since taking over the NF's reigns, her kind, eloquent words for her mentor (patriot, cool-headed) and the Kremlin-backed loan her party received.