President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has become the darling of a number of right-wing European political parties, in part for his opposition to the United States but also for his conservative stances on social issues. Still, pro-Russian sentiment remains largely confined to the fringes of European politics, though Mr. Putin does have more mainstream admirers and allies, including Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister.

In all, 10 members of Parliament made the trip. Eight were members of the Republicans, one was from another center-right party and one from a center-left party. A Republicans lawmaker, Thierry Mariani, led the group.

The visit began on Thursday and included stops in several cities, like Yalta, Simferopol and Sevastopol. The aim, according to an interview with Mr. Mariani in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, was to “understand how the people live.” Mr. Mariani said he supported the annexation of Crimea but that some of the lawmakers and wanted to see the situation for themselves.

“We saw happy people,” said Marie-Christine Dalloz, one of the lawmakers, according to a translation in Ria-Novosti, a Russian news service. “We talked to young people. The picture is surprisingly different than the one we were shown,” she said.