Vladimir Putin is trying to help the far-right in Europe in the hope he could split the bloc apart, the Russian President's former speechwriter tells the Daily Express.

       European elections saw far-right parties surge across the continent, posing a threat to the ruling parties more in line with Brussels' values.

       This was seen in France, where Marine Le Pen's National Rally Party won with 32 percent of the vote while President Emmanuel Macron's party won just 15 percent.

       In Germany, the AfD (Alternative for Germany) gained five percentage points to finish second behind the conservative Christian Democrats.

       Abbas Gallyamov, Putin's aide from 2008-2012, tells the Daily Express that the Russian President is helping party's on the far-right in the hope that the European Union will split.

       READ MORE: EU election maps show far-right swing as Scholz and Macron humiliated

       He said: "Definitely Putin is trying to help the far-right in Europe. There is a lot of proof of this. There is no doubt he would see far-right victories as a good result for himself.

       "But I think the success of the far-right is the reaction to the domestic European agenda. It is a reaction of regular citizens to too much progressivism. They have had enough.

       "People don't like things like this. It isn't like Putin and Ukraine are the dominant factor.

       "Putin, if he manages to, will want to split the EU. But even if he doesn't the division now is already a kind of achievement for him."

       Far-right parties in Europe have been accused of having links to Russia. Le Pen's National Rally once received funding from a Russian bank.

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       Le Pen defended the decision to accept the funds, saying the party needed to because many French banks were reluctant to fund her party.

       In April, the AfD came under fire from German lawmakers over two leading candidates' alleged links to Russia and China.

       German public prosecutors in the city of Dresden had started investigations over allegations that Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s lead candidate for the European election, had accepted payments from Russia and China “for his work as an MEP.”

       Mr Krah has now been axed from the party’s future delegation in the European Parliament. He was also embroiled in a scandal because he said that not all SS officers during World War 2 were criminals.