A French court on Monday convicted Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally party, of the improper use and diversion of European Union funds - a ruling that could jeopardize her bid in the next presidential election in 2027.
The prosecution has asked the court to bar her from holding public office for five years. In addition, the prosecutor is seeking a two-year prison sentence and a €300,000 fine.
If Le Pen is unable to run the bid, her likely political heir is 29-year-old Jordan Bardella, who currently serves as the party's president, may now become the party's candidate in the 2027 presidential race.
For the full interview of Bardella wuth Israel Hayom.
The French court ruled that Le Pen and 24 other senior party members systematically misused EU funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay National Rally workers in France. The indictment claimed that "they turned the European Parliament into a cash cow and intended to keep doing so," adding that the fraud would have continued if the EU hadn't intervened. Sentencing is expected to continue for several hours, and the defendants are expected to appeal the verdict.
During the hearing, the judge stated that "it was proven that all these individuals in fact worked for the party and received no tasks from their EU lawmakers. The investigations also showed this wasn't administrative error, but rather embezzlement orchestrated through a system designed to cut party costs."
"There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. That means potentially millions upon millions of French citizens could find themselves stripped of their candidate," Le Pen said before the verdict. She denounced the trial as politically motivated, saying, "It's clear the prosecutor's only goal is to drive Marine Le Pen out of political life."
The prosecution has demanded that the sentence be carried out immediately, with no delay pending appeal. If the court grants the request, Le Pen would be barred from running for president in 2027.
Le Pen, who currently leads in polls ahead of the 2027 presidential election, accused prosecutors of trying to orchestrate her "political death" and claimed there was a plot to prevent the National Rally from gaining power. She succeeded her father, the far-right and antisemitic politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, as head of the National Front in 2011. In 2018, she rebranded the party as the National Rally in an attempt to distance it from its extremist, antisemitic roots. She ran for president in 2017 and 2022, losing both times in runoff elections to Emmanuel Macron.
Jordan Bardella later replaced her as party president. The 29-year-old political rising star led the party to a strong showing in the last European Parliament elections, where it captured over 30% of the vote.
Bardella joined the party at just 16, reportedly after spending a week in police custody. He quickly rose through the party ranks, serving as its spokesperson and head of its youth wing. In 2019, he became the youngest lawmaker in European Parliament history and was appointed party vice president that same year. In an interview with Israel Hayom during a visit to Israel for an antisemitism summit, Bardella responded to questions about potentially running in Le Pen's place by asserting she is "innocent."
