Brussels — Political parties opposed to the EU are receiving money from the bloc to spread their anti-EU messages in a bumper election year, with a group run by France’s National Front under Marine Le Pen claiming the biggest sum last year. In 2016, the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom, led by the National Front, received €1.55m ($1.62m) as part of annual European Parliament grants that are meant to cover as much as 85% of parties’ expenditures linked to their political goals. A British-led nationalist group, the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, which includes the UK Independence Party, was awarded €1.4m. The biggest overall grants go to Europe’s Christian Democrats and the Socialists, the top two groups in the 28-nation Parliament, receiving €8.68m and €7.15m respectively. As Le Pen hunts for €20m to finance French presidential and legislative campaigns this year, she will be unable to the rely on the EU Parliament grants, which cannot be used for domestic elect...
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