The French court has banned right-wing leader Marine Le Pen from running in the 2027 presidential election, delivering a devastating blow to the National Rally (RN) party and sending shockwaves across Europe. Convicted of embezzling over €4 million ($4.3 million) in European Union (EU) funds, Le Pen has been sentenced to four years in prison—two suspended and two under house arrest—along with a €100,000 fine.
The ruling effectively terminates Le Pen’s decades-long political career and removes the most formidable challenger to Emmanuel Macron’s centrist legacy.
Le Pen, a three-time presidential candidate and front-runner for the 2027 election, did not mince words in her response. “I’m a fighter. I will not let myself be eliminated,” she declared in a fiery statement. “Millions of French citizens believe in me, and I will fight this outrageous attack on democracy all the way.”
The conviction centers on a long-running embezzlement case in which Le Pen and members of her RN party were accused of misusing European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016. The prosecution argued that funds meant to pay parliamentary assistants were diverted to finance RN party operations, violating EU regulations.
Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis, delivering the court’s damning verdict, stated that Le Pen had been “at the heart of an organised scheme” and had shown “no remorse” for misappropriating public funds. As a result, the court imposed the harshest possible punishment—a five-year ban from public office, effective immediately.
Political analyst Arnaud Benedetti described the ruling as “a seismic political earthquake” that will radically reshape the 2027 presidential race. “This is the single most consequential ruling in modern French politics,” he said. “The right has lost its strongest candidate, and France’s political future is now uncertain.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán posted a defiant “Je suis Marine!” on X, echoing solidarity with Le Pen.
Je suis Marine! @MLP_officiel
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) March 31, 2025
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who himself was barred from running for office until 2030, blasted the verdict as “left-wing judicial activism” designed to “eliminate nationalist leaders from the ballot box.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk also weighed in, accusing the French establishment of weaponising the courts. “When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents,” Musk wrote on X. “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
The Kremlin, which has long been linked to Le Pen’s party through financial deals and political alliances, also denounced the ruling. Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared that “more and more European capitals are violating democratic norms” and warned that such actions “erode trust in the political process.” While Le Pen has vowed to appeal the ruling, legal experts warn that the ban is immediately enforceable, meaning that she cannot run for office unless overturned—an outcome that could take years.
For now, Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 29-year-old protégé and the current president of RN, is widely expected to step in as the party’s candidate for 2027. However, Bardella lacks Le Pen’s political experience and mainstream appeal, and some within RN fear that he may not be able to galvanise the party’s traditional voter base.
Le Pen’s supporters see the ruling as an attempt to destroy RN from within. Her close ally, RN president Jordan Bardella, condemned the ruling in stark terms: “Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly convicted—it is French democracy that was killed.” Le Pen has warned that her exclusion from the race could trigger mass disillusionment among her supporters. “If they think they can silence me, they don’t understand what they have unleashed,” she declared. “The people of France will not allow this injustice to stand.”
While Macron’s government has distanced itself from the court’s decision, centrist politicians have defended the judiciary’s independence, arguing that the ruling is a testament to the rule of law.
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