Marine Le Pen re-elected to lead France’s National Front

France's far-right National Front has re-elected its leader, Marine Le Pen, with a 100 per cent mandate at a party congress marked by closer ties to Russia and the rise of a new generation of the Le Pen dynasty.

Opinion polls suggest Le Pen, who took over from her father Jean-Marie at the party's last congress in 2011, will repeat his 2002 feat of reaching a second-round run-off for president of France in the 2017 election.

"No one can be in any doubt that we will be in the second round," Le Pen told some 2,000 enthusiastic supporters, who chanted "Marine, president."

The anti-immigrant party came first in this year's European Parliament elections in France, winning a quarter of all votes. Dissatisfaction with traditional parties on the right and left and frustration at Socialist President Francois Hollande's failure to fix high unemployment have bolstered its support.

It also appeals to voters unhappy with the multicultural face of France and angry about the power of European Union bureaucrats. Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine has allowed it to differentiate itself further from mainstream parties, giving vocal support to Russia and denouncing Western sanctions.

Underscoring the close ties with Moscow, a senior National Front official confirmed last week the party had received funding from First Czech Russian Bank (FCRB).

The Mediapart investigative web site says the party, which accuses Western banks of snubbing it, has secured loans worth €9 million (HK$87 million) from FCRB. The FCRB and the National Front could not be reached for comment.