Le Pen: Brexit domino effect 'will bring down Europe'

Marine Le Pen, leader of the French far-right Front National party, has said the Brexit vote has set off a domino effect that "will bring down all of Europe".

She said the British and Americans had pulled off "coups" in 2016 and predicted that 2017 would be the "year the people of continental Europe woke up".

Ms Le Pen is seen as highly likely to make the run-off for the French presidency in May, while the right-wing nationalist party, Alternative for Germany, is expected to make significant gains at the election there in September.

Speaking at a meeting of nationalist leaders from major European countries in the German city of Koblenz, Ms Le Pen said the EU was a "system of oppression" and added: "We are experiencing the end of one world and the birth of another."

She said: "The first real blow struck against the old order, the thing that will set off the domino effect that will bring down all of Europe, is Brexit - a sovereign people has decided to leave an agreement of the powerful, to decide its own destiny.

"The second blow came shortly afterwards and that was the election of Mr Trump to the presidency of the United States, putting the friends of neo-liberalism in an even more difficult situation."

Also attending the meeting were leader Alternative for Germany leader Frauke Petry, Dutch far-right Freedom Party founder Geert Wilders and Matteo Salvini, of Italy's anti-EU Northern League.

In an interview with The Times newspaper earlier this week, Donald Trump said the EU had become "a vehicle for Germany".

He was sharply critical of Chancellor Angela Merkel's immigration policy, saying she had let too many "illegals" into continental Europe.

Speaking on Saturday following Mr Trump's inauguration, Mrs Merkel said she would work on preserving the relationship between Europe and the US, saying she would "work" on the trans-Atlantic relationship.

"Even when there are different opinions, compromises and solutions can be best found when we exchange ideas with respect," she said.

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