The leader of the French right-wing party “National Rally”, Marine Le Pen, stated that the sentence handed down against her was an “atomic bomb” deployed by the authorities to prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election.
On Monday, a Paris court found Le Pen and several deputies from her party guilty of misappropriating European Parliament funds. As a result, the politicians were banned from holding public office. In Le Pen’s case, this ban is set for five years and takes effect immediately. She is also required to serve two years under house arrest with an electronic bracelet and pay a fine of €100,000. The National Rally party was ordered to pay €1 million.
The system has pulled out an atomic bomb. If they are using such a powerful weapon against us, it is clearly because we are on the verge of victory, Le Pen declared while addressing her party members. Her speech was broadcast by BFMTV.
She emphasized that the “National Rally” would not allow such actions to go unchallenged, defending the right of French citizens to vote for the candidate of their choice. According to a poll by Elabe, 42% of French citizens believe that the ruling was intended to prevent Le Pen from participating in the 2027 presidential race.
