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Euronews
a day ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Far-right leaders join National Rally 'Victory Day' in French village
Thousands of supporters of the French National Rally party (RN) are converging in the village of Mormant-sur-Vernisson on Monday for a rural rally organised by the far-right party, exactly one year after its historic victory in the European elections. The celebration in the village of some 130 inhabitants in the Loiret region, dubbed "Victory Day", is meant to mark last year's record-breaking result for the RN, when the Jordan Bardella-led list won 31.37% of the vote on 9 June 2024. On Monday, more than 5,000 people were to gather amid food trucks and ice cream stands to celebrate the party's European success. In the ensuing French parliamentary elections, however, the far-right party did not achieve the significant victory it had hoped for, notably coming up against the New Popular Front left-wing alliance. The RN won 120 of the 577 seats in the French National Assembly, becoming the largest party in the chamber but failing to secure a majority that would have allowed Jordan Bardella to claim the Matignon premiership. With this meeting, the RN leaders also intend to close the ranks of the Patriots for Europe, one of the three far-right groups in the European Parliament, which currently has 85 of the 720 MEPs sitting in Strasbourg. Le Pen and Bardella invited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a fervent opponent of the European Union whose anti-LGBTQ+ measures and Moscow-friendly stance have been roundly condemned by the EU. "The Brussels bureaucrats [want] submission and decline ... whether it's settling migrants, financing war or sharing the debt", Orbán said in a post on social media the day before the rally, while calling for "occupying Brussels". Other European far-right leaders expected to attend Monday's rally include Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Lega party chief Matteo Salvini, the president of Spain's Vox party Santiago Abascal, and the leaders of parties allied with the RN in the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, and Belgium. A counter-demonstration is also planned in the neighbouring town of Montargis, which is expected to be attended by French lawmakers Philippe Brun and Chloé Ridel from the Socialist Party, Ian Brossat of the Communist Party, Manon Aubry and Louis Boyard from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI), as well as trade union leaders. Monday's rally is also intended to demonstrate the unity between Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, three months after a court handed down a five-year ineligibility sentence to the former in connection with the corruption scandal involving European parliamentary assistants. While the polls had her well ahead in the polls for the 2027 presidential election, this sentence - which was accompanied by provisional execution, as requested by the prosecutors - will prevent Le Pen from running for president, unless the decision is overturned by the Court of Appeal hearing, scheduled for the summer of 2026. At the time, the leader of the RN denounced "a political decision" and described the immediate application of her ineligibility as a "violation of the rule of law". The party's president Bardella immediately echoed the criticism, referring to "a democratic scandal" and claiming that "part of the justice system" was trying to"prevent (Le Pen's) accession to the Elysée by any means necessary." While the 30-year-old has continued to show his support for Le Pen since the court ruling, the man who was seen as the RN's "Plan B" for the presidential election is now considered a serious candidate for 2027 by many of the party's supporters - particularly among young people - as well as by parts of the French press. According to a recent Ifop poll, Bardella would get 34% of the presidential vote if he faced Horizons president Édouard Philippe, compared with 36% for Le Pen if the latter were allowed to run. The Elabe personalities ranking for "Les Echos", published on Friday, also gives the RN president "35% positive image among the French as a whole, behind Édouard Philippe (39%) but still ahead of Marine Le Pen (34%)". Poland and NATO nations scrambled fighter jets early Monday to secure Polish airspace following Russian airstrikes near its border with western Ukraine, authorities said. The Polish armed forces stated on X that these measures were to ensure security in regions next to at-risk areas over concerns that Russian stray missiles might veer into Poland. "In connection with the intensive air attack of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, activity of Polish and allied aircraft in the Polish airspace began in the morning hours," the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command said on Monday. The Polish military activated "all available forces and means at his disposal (including) on-call fighter pairs ... and ground-based air defence." No violation of Poland's airspace has been reported. "The Polish military is continuously monitoring the situation on Ukrainian territory and remains on constant alert to ensure the safety of Polish airspace. We thank the NATO Air Force for its allied support," the army command press release said. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian drones targeted the Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr and Zaporizhzhia regions overnight on Monday.
Euronews
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Brussels, my love? The rise and fall of Marine le Pen
ADVERTISEMENT We are joined this week by Fabrice Leggeri, French National Rally MEP with the Patriots for Europe, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú- Irish Fianna Fail MEP with Renew Europe and Dharmendra Kanani, chief spokesperson for the Brussels based think tank - Friends of Europe. The panel react to the recent court case that found French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling millions of euros of EU funds and banned her potentially from running for political office for five years. The news has triggered a lively debate across France, as Le Pen was tipped to be a frontrunner in the upcoming 2027 presidential elections. Fabrice Leggeri, a close friend of Marine Le Pen, insisted she was innocent. "It's not a surprise that French judges want to bar Marine Le Pen from the presidential election", he told the panel. But Cynthia Ní Mhurchú - a barrister by trade - said being in denial was an example of the far right undermining institutions and independent judges. "This is all about democracy. This is about Marine Le Pen undermining democracy, and not only seeking to undermine, but deliberately undermining democracy and the rule of law and all of those values that I know my group hold dearly". The panel also discussed the roller coaster ride that the world just had due to President Donald Trump's tariff announcement. The uncertainty has given the EU a shake up to seek other partners and allies across the world. "It's a good kick up the backside because actually it's great that Ursula von der Leyen stood there and said, "we will work with anybody who has a mutual interest", Dharmendra Kanani said, adding "I would say to her to put "p.s. that share our values", please.. Watch "Brussels, my love?" in the player above.
Japan Times
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Le Pen ruling unleashes wave of hypocrisy on populist right
In a democracy, the rule of law is not an option, but the very condition of its existence: Impartial, unyielding and blind to power. But this ideal is increasingly under siege. Not from anarchists or revolutionaries, but from the self-proclaimed defenders of law and order, namely far-right parties in Europe and beyond. France's Marine Le Pen — convicted last week in a national court for embezzling over €4 million in European Parliament funds — is a case in point. The verdict against the leader of the French National Rally was unambiguous: Le Pen and her party systematically diverted money intended for parliamentary assistants to pay for National Rally staff in France, audaciously flouting European Union regulations. Her response was not contrition, but indignation. 'Incroyable,' Le Pen fumed, storming out of the courtroom while decrying the ruling as 'unbelievable.' Facing a five-year ban from public office, Le Pen, currently the front-runner to become France's next president, now joins a chorus of populist leaders who cry persecution when the law they so loudly exalt holds them accountable. The evidence against Le Pen is overwhelming, the product of a meticulous, years-long investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office. Prosecutors laid bare a scheme of fake contracts, falsified time sheets and bank records that traced the misappropriated funds across several years. Aides testified that their work bore no relation to EU parliamentary duties, their salaries merely a conduit for party coffers. Le Pen's defense, thin as it was, rested on claims of political targeting — a plea the court dismissed. This was not a vendetta but justice, impartial and resolute. The National Rally must now repay the funds, a financial blow matched only by the political cost: With Le Pen sidelined, the 2027 presidential race is thrown into chaos, her party's future uncertain. Yet Le Pen and her allies have turned their guns on the judiciary itself, following a script rehearsed across the globe. U.S. President Donald Trump, humiliated by his 2020 election defeat and charged with multiple crimes, has repeatedly branded America's courts as 'rigged' and his administration is constantly seeking to test the limits of the judicial system. In Brazil, former President Jair Bolsonaro faces scrutiny over his family's finances, has denounced judges as 'activists' and threatened to defy their rulings. He will also stand trial for allegedly plotting a military coup to stay in power. Back in Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has methodically dismantled judicial independence, cloaking this self-serving maneuver as reform. The pattern is stark: Law is sacrosanct until it bites, and history offers a grim echo of this hypocrisy. In the Italy of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, the 1926 'exceptional laws' stripped judges of autonomy, turning courts into tools of state power. Dissenters were purged, replaced by loyalists who rubber-stamped the will of 'Il Duce.' In Nazi Germany, the People's Court bypassed all semblance of due process, delivering summary judgments that propped up Hitler's regime and criminalized opposition. The erosion of judicial independence was the first step toward tyranny; once the courts bent to the ruler's political whim, no checks remained on executive excess. Today's far-right parties have not yet plunged to these depths — although Trump is laying the foundations to defy the courts — but their rhetoric treads dangerously close. When Le Pen assails the French judiciary as a tool of shadowy elites, she channels a dangerous precedent, one that ends not in democracy, but despotism. Her supporters, of course, see it differently. They cry witch hunt, pointing to a broader mistrust in institutions that has festered amid economic stagnation and cultural unease. Already less than half of the French public trusts their judiciary according to some estimates, a dangerous trend fueled by perceptions of elitism and inefficiency. Le Pen's base, primed to see conspiracy in every setback, views her conviction as proof of a biased establishment. But the evidence says otherwise as France's judiciary has a robust record of holding the powerful to account, irrespective of ideology. Former President Jacques Chirac, whose career spanned the left and right of the political spectrum, was convicted in 2011 for misusing public funds. Conservative hero Nicolas Sarkozy, another former head of the Elysee, faced judgment in 2021 for illegal campaign financing. Francois Fillon, once prime minister under Sarkozy, was sentenced in 2020 for a fake jobs scandal not unlike Le Pen's. Moreover, Le Pen has enjoyed every safeguard of due process and retains the right to appeal, which she says she will pursue. No credible evidence suggests that political interference tainted the trial. The claim of victimhood is a tactic to rally a base that prefers outrage to accountability — but at a cost. When legal consequences are recast as persecution, the judiciary ceases to be a pillar of stability and becomes a culture war battleground. Trust crumbles and with it, the foundation of democratic order. The 2023 French riots sparked by a police shooting already exposed the fragility of society's faith in institutions. Populist assaults on the courts threaten to widen that fracture into a chasm. Le Pen's ban risks galvanizing her followers, who see her as a martyr, even as it emboldens her rivals. This is the paradox of populist justice: Accountability breeds resentment, not reckoning. Yet the greater danger lies in the precedent. From Washington to Budapest, far-right group's selective embrace of the law undermines the very order they claim to uphold. Le Pen's saga is not just a French story — it is a test for the West, where populist tides continue to swell. The rule of law is not a weapon to be wielded against foes nor a convenience to be discarded when it stings. It is a shield that protects us all. Politicize it and we risk everything. Le Pen's downfall proves that no one, however loud or popular, stands above judgment. But it also acts as a warning that when trust in the law collapses, so does the democracy it sustains, inviting chaos. The question is, are we willing to pay that price? Thomas O. Falk is a London-based political commentator and journalist.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Le Pen and RN leadership hold crisis meeting afta five-year court ban French on far-right leader
Di French court don ban Marine Le Pen from running for public office afta dem find her guilty of misappropriating EU money to finance her far-right party. Judge ban Le Pen for five-years, dis go stop her running for president in 2027. Di presidential hopeful and eight oda pipo wey be EU lawmakers at di time, along wit 12 parliamentary assistants, dey guilty of embezzling funds to fund dia French National Rally (RN) party. "We don establish say all dis pipo bin dey work for di party, (EU) lawmaker neva give dem any tasks," Judge Benedicte de Perthuis tell di court. "Di investigations also show say dis no be administrative errors ... but embezzlement within di framework of di system put in place to reduce di party costs." Le Pen, who sit down for di front row in court, shake her head as di judge dey tok, Reuters news agency report. Le Pen, comot from di courtroom bifor dem finish di hearing, afta di five-year ban, di court also sentence her to four years in prison wit two years suspension and and di oda two she go serve outside jail wit electronic tag. Di court issue her €100,000 (£84,000) fine but she fit appeal di matta, so dem no fit apply di judgement for now. Rodolphe Bosselut, Le Pen lawyer, tok say im client go appeal di sentence. Bosseult tok say im clinet go tell pipo wetin dey her mind herself during her interview at 20:00 (19:00 BST). "Wetin dey sure be say her lawyer no dey happy," e tell French media. Wetin e mean for Le Pen, her party and French democracy Dis na earthquake. E get big implications for her, her party and French democracy. Wetin dis mean be say Le Pen no fit run for di next 2027 election - dis go cause some legal twist for french democracy Some of her opponents tok say dem hope say she no get dis ineligibility - dem tok say she be pesin wey suppose fight at di ballot box, no be through di judicial system. But Le Pen no dey di race again and she dey vex wella - she carry vex face commot from di courtroom. Marine Le Pen dey expect guilty verdict. But she no expect dis. For her mind – according to wetin she bin tell tori pipo on Sunday – di judge no go "dare" to go so far as to ban her from running for di presidency. To be fair, no be only her wey bin dey expect di prediction. Plenty of commentators tok say di move go dey bad for if di most popular politician in di kontri no fit run. Even Marine Le Pen worst enemies – pipo like far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou – make am clear say dem bin think say immediate ineligibility go dey unfair and unwise. But e don happun. And now di National Rally go need to start looking for Plan B in 2027. Politicians and odas reaction to di verdict For one statement, di far-left France Unbowed party tok say "dem neva expect to use di courts to get rid of" di RN "We go fight dem for ballot box and in di streets, wit di French pipo, as we bin do during di 2024 legislative elections. We go fight again tomorrow for di polls, whoever be dia candidate." Fabien Roussel, di national secretary of di French Communist Party, tok say "Ms. Le Pen na politician wey demand firmness on di part of the judiciary! Respect di judicial system den." And di former leader of di centre-right Republicans, Eric Ciotti, hit out at di Paris court, she tok say di "democratic destiny of our nation dey for di hand of some judicial cabal" "Di favour candidate for di presidential election wey dem prevent from running. Dis no be simple dysfunction. Dis na system to capture power wey go systematically throws aside any candidate wey dey too far to di right and wey get chance of winning." Nigel Farage tok say dem don cancel Marine Le Pen wetin e describe as "very trumped-up charge". Di Reform UK leader, wey dey for Kent to campaign ahead of di local elections, tell di BBC di ban on Le Pen na "trend". "For dis kontri we get nine county council elections on 1 May wey no go happun, and e fit no happun for years," Farage tok. "And for France, dem don cancell one candidate. One candidate wey be say without doubt, go win di next French presidential election. And you know wetin, e look to me like trumped-up charge." Farage suggest sayEurosceptic parties don unfairly target legal action such as dis. "I bin dey European Parliament for ova 20 years, and I watch di way dem use public money," e tok. "And e be like say di only pipo wey dem dey pursue na di Eurosceptic parties. Dis tell you everytin. I don see how e fit dey possible di only pipo wey don in breach EU funding rules na Eurosceptics. E no just dey possible." One of di lawyers for European Parliament don welcome di verdict against Marine Le Pen today. Patrick Maisonneuve tell reporters di court find "very clearly" say no doubt di National Rally party don put system in place to divert European Parliament funds.
Sky News
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen found guilty in embezzlement case
French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has been found guilty in an embezzlement case. The far-right leader and 24 other officials from her National Rally party were accused of diverting more than €3m (£2.51m) of European Parliament funds to pay France-based staff between 2004 and 2016. The defendants claimed the money was used legitimately. The nine-week trial took place at the end of last year. Prosecutors wanted Le Pen to face an immediate five-year ban from public office if found guilty. The 56-year-old is a three-time presidential contender who has said 2027 would be her final run for top office. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
