Le Pen told France's TV1 that "the situation with the migrants would never have existed were it not for the destabilization of Syria. This is where it all began." The politician added that "we have only to thank Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande for what is happening now."
When asked what Europe could do to stem the problem, she told her interviewer that "the humanitarian solution would have been not to destabilize [Syria]," adding that southern Europe's effective lack of border control is sending the wrong signal to potential migrants. "We are sending the signal of total laxity –that migrants should attempt to make the crossing, and to risk their lives. We are close to a situation of chaos."
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have been fleeing to Europe, through Turkey or across the Mediterranean, most of them from war and chaos-hit regions in the Middle East, including Syria, Libya and northern Africa.
On Friday, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told Euronews that Germany and Europe as a whole need a new series of crisis response measures to deal with the flow of refugees, with Germany alone expected to take in nearly 800,000 displaced persons by the end of this year.
