The conviction of Marine Le Pen for embezzlement and her five-year ban from public office has sparked a fierce backlash from right-wing leaders across Europe and beyond. Most critics accuse the court of political bias and judicial overreach.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended, and fined 100,000 euros after being found guilty of embezzling EU funds. The court also barred her from running for public office for five years, likely ending her 2027 presidential bid. The ruling has triggered outrage among her allies across Europe and beyond.
Political motives
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov condemned the ruling as a “violation of democratic norms”, claiming European governments “are not averse to going beyond the bounds of democracy during the political process.” Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, Italian prime minister Matteo Salvini, and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders were also quick to criticise the decision.
The court’s ruling is “a very big deal”, according to U.S. president Donald Trump. “I know all about it and a lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted for anything.” Billionaire and White House adviser Elon Musk called the trial “the radical left’s standard playbook”, and compared it to cases against right-wing figures elsewhere. Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, himself barred from office, labelled it “left-wing judicial activism.”
In Belgium, far-right Vlaams Belang denounced the ruling as a “political process” and called for the restoration of democracy. “Events from twenty years ago are now being misused to silence political opponents”, Vlaams Belang leader Tom Van Grieken said Monday evening on VRT Journaal. “We know this modus operandi. All right-wing European parties face legal proceedings because they cannot be defeated at the ballot box. So instead, they try to do it through the courts. A true disgrace.”
Setback
Despite the conviction, Le Pen made it clear she is not stepping aside just yet. Speaking on French TV channel TF1 on Monday night, she vowed to fight the ruling through every legal avenue.
The verdict has nonetheless plummeted the National Rally (NR) party into uncertainty. If Le Pen’s legal challenge fails, attention is likely to turn to Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old RN president and rising star within the party. Though relatively inexperienced, Bardella has been groomed as Le Pen’s political heir and could be the party’s candidate in 2027.
Meanwhile, RN is mobilising its supporters. Bardella has urged peaceful protests and launched a nationwide petition to rally around Le Pen.
