A Paris court has barred the right-wing politician from taking part in the 2027 election
FILE PHOTO: Marine Le Pen, leader of the French party National Rally, speaks during a ‘Patriots for Europe’ rally in Spain in February 2025. © Pablo Blazquez Dominguez / Getty Images
French and foreign politicians are reacting to the sentences handed down on Monday by a Paris court in a case against the National Rally party (RN) and several prominent figures, including Marine Le Pen, the party’s former leader who currently heads its parliamentary faction.
The RN and associated individuals were accused of embezzling EU funds allocated for the salaries of aides of European Parliament members and diverting them to the national coffers. Several defendants have been sentenced to prison terms of various lengths, while Le Pen was barred from seeking public office for five years.
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31 March 2025
16:01 GMT
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is “troubled” by the embezzlement ruling against Le Pen, a source close to him has told AFP. Bayrou does not plan to make “any statement on a judicial ruling,” the source added.
- 15:49 GMT
France is plunging into an “unpredictable maelstrom” and could see protests similar to those in Romania after presidential candidate Calin Georgescu was barred from running, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has said, according to TASS. She added that strong reactions from the US were likely to follow.
- 15:28 GMT
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has responded on X to the Le Pen verdict, saying: “When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents. This is their standard playbook throughout the world.”
When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents.This is their standard playbook throughout the world. https://t.co/FgmgeyQ2rp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2025
- 15:13 GMT
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described the verdict as a violation of democratic norms, saying “more and more European capitals” are undermining them. He added, however, that the issue is France’s internal affair.
- 13:44 GMT
National Rally leaders are reportedly conducting a crisis meeting at the party’s headquarters in Paris to discuss how to proceed.
- 13:44 GMT
Eric Zemmour, president of the minority right-wing Reconquete party, has expressed support for Le Pen, saying that regardless of his political disagreement with her, he believes she should be able to run for office.
”I regret that politicians have voluntarily given this exorbitant power to the justice system. Everything will have to change,” Zemmour wrote on social media
- 13:44 GMT
MP Harold Huwart of the minority Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories (LIOT) group in the French National Assembly, has berated condemnations of the verdict as nearing the “peak of ridiculousness”.
”For years and years, MPs have been collectively voting for provisions that toughen sentences for elected officials in the name of fighting corruption,” he told the press.
Huwart added that while RN voters may be frustrated by the outcome of the trial, it was a logical consequence of criminal justice reforms stretching back decades.
- 13:43 GMT
Former French government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot, who is a member of the Renaissance party, has described the verdict as “justice served” in an interview with Franceinfo, urging people to respect the court’s ruling. Respecting the rule of law is required for the protection of democracy, she argued.
- 13:21 GMT
French MEP Francois-Xavier Bellamy, who serves as vice president of the Republicans, has called the sentence “a very dark day for French democracy” and “major interference in our democratic life,” regardless of people’s opinions of the National Rally.
”The candidate whom the polls actually place in the lead in the presidential election has been barred from running by a court decision: this unprecedented event will leave deep scars,” he said on X.
The French judicial system is “taking the risk of casting suspicion of arbitrariness” and needs to redeem itself in the eyes of the people by proving its impartiality, the politician added.
- 13:12 GMT
Le Pen’s lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, has announced his intention to appeal the verdict. He denounced the “provisional execution” ruling, which imposes an immediate political ban on his client and offers “no recourse” through the legal process.
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