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		</div><p>French presidential candidate Francois Fillon has called for a tougher and more united Europe that can defend itself against violent extremists and unfair trade.</p>
<p>Most of the 11 French presidential candidates are sceptical about the 28-nation European Union, amid growing nationalist sentiment around Europe and Britain&#8217;s pending exit from the bloc.</p>
<p>But Mr Fillon argued that the EU is &#8220;indispensable&#8221; to ensure peace and prosperity.</p>
<p>He warned that far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen&#8217;s proposals to leave the EU and the euro currency &#8220;would be assured chaos, and the explosion of Europe&#8221;.</p>
<p>He did say the bloc has become too heavily regulated and needs to &#8220;recreate itself&#8221;.</p>
<p>He proposed tougher protection for external borders and tougher EU rules against trade dumping and tax evasion by US or Asian companies.</p>
<p>Conservative Mr Fillon was once the front-runner in the presidential race but corruption allegations have hurt his chances in the two-round election on April 23 and May 7.</p>
<p>Earlier, Mr Fillon threatened legal action over leaks that have deeply damaged his campaign &#8211; and that he believes came from President Francois Hollande.</p>
<p>Mr Fillon said he had detailed information about who was behind the leaks about parliamentary jobs he gave his wife Penelope, from Abergavenny in Wales, and children.</p>
<p>He said &#8220;when the time comes, I will pursue them&#8221; and &#8220;those who are at the origin of the affair will not sleep well in the future&#8221;.</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/FrancoisFillon_large.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/FrancoisFillon_large-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-110232" /></a></p>
<p>Mr Fillon has been given preliminary charges of embezzlement but denies wrongdoing.</p>
<p>On Thursday he reiterated accusations that the Socialist president was linked to the leaks &#8211; accusations Mr Hollande has denied.</p>
<p>Later, Mr Fillon told reporters in Paris: <i>&#8220;We are in a world of competition where each defends its interests tooth and nail. We should do the same.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>Pledging to boost French defence spending, he said European countries should stop assuming that Nato or the US will defend Europe.</p>
<p>Rival independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, seen as the front-runner in the presidential race, says the EU needs to defend its common ideals of peace, prosperity and freedom.</p>
<p>He wants the EU to stand up to those who &#8220;openly want a weakening of Europe: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, as well as the main authoritarian leaders of the Middle East&#8221;.</p>
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