France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been convicted of embezzling European Union funds and barred from holding public office for five years, dealing a significant setback to her political ambitions just months before critical parliamentary elections.
The Paris court ruled Thursday that Le Pen and several associates from her National Rally party illegally diverted nearly €7 million in EU parliamentary funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay for party staff and campaign expenses in France, rather than their intended purpose of financing EU legislative work.
The verdict marks the culmination of a seven-year investigation that uncovered systematic misuse of taxpayer money, with prosecutors detailing how Le Pen's parliamentary assistants including her bodyguard and party treasurer were paid by the EU while actually working for her nationalist movement in France.
Le Pen, who was fined €50,000 and ordered to repay the embezzled funds, denounced the ruling as "political persecution" and vowed to appeal, claiming the case was orchestrated by opponents to derail her party's surging popularity. "This is not justice, this is elimination," she told reporters outside the courthouse, flanked by supporters waving French flags.
The conviction comes at a delicate moment for the 56-year-old politician, whose anti-immigration party currently leads polls ahead of June's snap parliamentary elections called by President Emmanuel Macron. While the ban prevents Le Pen from running for or holding any elected position until 2029, legal experts note she could still campaign for her party and potentially govern from behind the scenes if National Rally wins a majority.
The court stopped short of imposing the maximum 10-year ban prosecutors had sought, leaving open a possible return to frontline politics for Le Pen, who has already lost three presidential bids but succeeded in moving her far-right movement into France's political mainstream.
The ruling immediately reshapes France's political landscape, with Le Pen's 28-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella expected to take over as the party's public face. Analysts warn the conviction could galvanize National Rally's base by reinforcing their narrative of a corrupt establishment targeting populist outsiders, even as Macron's centrist alliance seeks to capitalize on Le Pen's legal troubles.
The case also revives uncomfortable questions about EU oversight of parliamentary funds, coming just weeks after a separate scandal over Qatar allegedly bribing EU officials, a convergence that risks further eroding public trust in European institutions at a time of rising nationalist sentiment across the continent.
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Sources: DW News, Le Monde, Politico Europe
