Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday said Europe had to decide between democracy and "extreme right populist forces" spearheaded by France's Front National (FN) party in dealing with the economic crisis.
"European leadership has to decide either to respect democracy, or take the risk of the increasing of the extreme right populist forces in Europe," Tsipras said in halting English ahead of a meeting with French communist party secretary Pierre Laurent.
Tsipras, whose radical left government is engaged in tough negotiations with its European creditors over a new reform plan, has repeatedly suggested that conservative forces are trying to undermine Athens.
The Greek government has warned that persisting with fiscal austerity in the EU will only increase Euroscepticism and the lure of far-right parties.
"Because of these difficulties of the European Union you have the radical increasing of (far-right leader Marine) Le Pen and extreme right wing forces," Tsipras said.
The Front Natinoal leads opinion polls ahead of local elections in France on March 22 and 29.
Marine Le Pen is widely expected to run for the French presidency in 2017.
Epic Games, EA, Roblox Among Video Game Companies Hit with EU Complaint for 'Tricking Consumers' Greece To Impose Fee On Cruise Passengers To Mykonos And Santorini Greek Woman, 44, Intentionally Starts 2 Wildfires To "Watch Firefighters" And "Flirt With Them": Report 3 Grams Of Explosives Per Pager: Israel's Complex Op To Hurt Hezbollah "Wear Proper Undergarments": Delta Airlines' New Memo For Flight Attendants 9 Dead, 2,800 Hurt As Pagers Explode Across Lebanon, Hezbollah Blames Israel Ministry Of Education Revises Qualifying Percentile For NEET MDS Kandahar Hijack And Its 'K Connection' - A Reporter's Diary Delhi High Court Permits Ashneer Grover, Wife To Travel To Doha And UK Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.