Rachida Dati, a French centre-right MEP and former justice minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy, who now represents French people living in Britain, has appealed to voters to turn out in this week's elections to the European parliament to combat the threat of "ultra-violent, ultra-racist and populist" parties, reports The Observer.
Opinion polls in France suggest the far-right Front National (FN) could win up to a quarter of votes and a record number of seats in the European parliament, with the opposition UMP in second place and the ruling Socialists trailing in third.
Dati, who is standing for re-election, told the Observer: "It's the level of abstention that worries me. Non-participation will be the key. If people don't go out and vote there's the risk that Europe speaks for no one, which raises questions about its legitimacy and that boosts extremes."
She added: "What we are seeing with the extremes across Europe is that they are not a homogenous group. They are very different and they don't agree among themselves. Britain has its parties as does France and other countries. But if people don't vote, we risk having a bloc of extreme parties, some of whom are ultra-violent, ultra-racist and populist."
She said: "People are exasperated and disgusted with Europe, not by conviction but because of its caprices. They hear European officials saying 'well yes, we know you are suffering but you have to accept it's going to take another 10 years to get out of this' and they ask themselves what these people know about suffering.
"The politicians are seen as remote… they don't very often come into contact with voters. Even in France we have MEPs who are standing for the fifth time and French people haven't a clue who they are. These are people who consider they don't have to give an account of themselves to the electorate and so they don't. So we should not really be surprised if voters aren't interested in Europe or vote for extremes."
Read more of this report from The Observer.