Marine Le Pen Banned from Office

Marine Le Pen, leader of the France — National Rally, has been convicted of embezzlement and handed an immediate five-year ban from public office, effectively barring her from the 2027 French presidential race. She was also sentenced to four years imprisonment, to be served with an electronic tag. The court found that Marine Le Pen and France — National Rally misused approximately €3 million in European Union funds intended for parliamentary assistants to pay France-based party staff between 2004 and 2016. Marine Le Pen denied wrongdoing, calling the case a political attack. The ruling is a major setback for Marine Le Pen, who was a front-runner in opinion polls for the 2027 election. Her supporters, including Jordan Bardella, Viktor Orbán, Matteo Salvini, and Éric Ciotti, have criticized the verdict as politically motivated, while figures like Laurent Wauquiez and François Bayrou expressed concerns about judicial overreach in democratic processes. Dmitry Peskov also weighed in, criticizing the ruling as a threat to democracy in Europe. Jordan Bardella is now seen as a likely successor to Marine Le Pen as the France — National Rally's presidential candidate.