Marine Le Pen refused to return 300,000 euros to the EU

The leader of the French right-wing National Front, Marine Le Pen, has rejected an official request to return 300,000 euros from an European Union fund, which an investigation by the European Parliament found to have been "spent for the wrong purpose", writes the British Guardian, reports Patria.

The investigation results indicate that between 2011 and 2012, Le Pen used EU fund money, which was supposed to be used only for legal assistant fees, to pay party staff for work within the National Front.

While poll results show that Le Pen could reach the first round of the French presidential elections in May, the situation has become complicated by her refusal to return the money by the Tuesday deadline, risking losing her full salary as a Member of Parliament.  

Le Pen has rejected allegations of embezzlement and emphasized that she will not "surrender to persecution" by returning the money.

In a statement to Reuters, Le Pen characterized the request as a "unilateral decision by political opponents... without evidence, and without waiting for the verdict of the legal action I have initiated".

A European Union official stated that if the money is not returned, Marine Le Pen's parliamentary salary could be halved to 3,000 euros from February, and she could lose other allowances up to a total monthly amount of 7,000 euros.

Five other Members of the European Parliament from the National Front, including Le Pen's father, have also had their salaries cut due to misused funds that were not returned, an EU official told Reuters.