Many assumed Mrs. Merkel's call for tolerance also was directed at a newly formed group of far-right nationalists in Parliament.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has sought to wrest Joan of Arc from far-Right nationalists who claim the mantle of the woman who "threw the English out of France".

Die-hard Communists and far-right Russian nationalists resent what they perceive as Mr. Yeltsin's kowtowing to the West and have actively resisted his foreign policy, including his disarmament efforts.

Another encouraging sign from last weekend's voting in Hungary - the first of two rounds of parliamentary elections - was the terrible showing of the far-right nationalists.

There are a dozen other presidential candidates, including some far-right nationalists and a couple of Polish-American businessmen.

The capital club is known to draw their support from both far-right white nationalists and Île de France's multi-ethnic population.

The Albanians claimed, improbably, that it was done by Serb supporters of Vojislav Seselj's Radical Party, a group of far-right nationalists.

At the same time, the stand helped undercut the far-right Republican Party, which took only 3.3 percent of the vote, giving Mr. Lafontaine the added mantle of a successful defender against far-right nationalists.

The Communists and far-right nationalists scarcely go further in their criticism.

After a landslide victory in 2006, Fico's Smer formed an unlikely coalition with populists and far-right Slovak nationalists, from whom he picked up anti-Hungarian rhetoric.