Monday, 17 August 2026Europe · Analysis
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
Person
President of the National Rally, National Rally
French far-right leader announces candidacy hours after court upholds embezzlement conviction, while party president Bardella signals pragmatic shift toward Berlin's centre-right
A French appeals court rules Tuesday on whether the National Rally leader's embezzlement conviction and five-year ban on public office will stand, potentially ending her fourth bid for the Élysée.
Paris appeal court rules Tuesday on whether to uphold a five-year ineligibility sentence that would exclude the National Rally leader from her strongest-ever shot at the Élysée, while her protégé Jordan Bardella waits in the wings.
ECB president tells Les Echos she may leave before her 2027 term ends to inject a European voice into a French campaign dominated by the far-right National Rally.
Former Hungarian prime minister appears in Brussels insisting his political project continues despite losing power, as new government prepares to reclaim billions in frozen funds.
With Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella favoured to win next year's presidential election, Berlin, Brussels and Kyiv are accelerating nuclear, budget and enlargement agreements that a National Rally government could unpick.
The National Rally leader faces a month-long hearing in Paris starting Tuesday to overturn a five-year ban from public office imposed after her conviction for embezzling European Parliament funds. A summer verdict will decide whether she or Jordan Bardella leads the party into the 2027 election.
Trust in French institutions has fallen faster than in any other EU country, while Marine Le Pen's legal battle and a fragmented left leave the 2027 contest wide open.
France's National Rally leader tells BBC he shares White House warnings of 'civilisational erasure' but insists his party seeks national sovereignty, not subservience to Washington, as Le Pen's legal battle clouds the 2027 presidential race.
National Rally leader calculates that forcing new elections serves her party better than letting Macron's camp own an unpopular €43.8 billion austerity package.
French prime minister calls September 8 vote on spending cuts as opposition parties from left and right unite against him, risking third government collapse in a year
Marine Le Pen's party shares ideological ground with the US president but polls show French voters, including its own base, see his policies as damaging to France. The party is hedging its bets.
One year after his gamble backfired, the French president again holds the constitutional power to dissolve parliament. Allies say he is tempted, despite public denials.
Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orbán and allies gathered south of Paris to claim momentum one year after their strongest European Parliament showing, while Le Pen's legal appeal clouds her 2027 presidential prospects.
Germany's new chancellor needed two ballots to win confirmation, exposing deep fractures in the CDU-SPD coalition as France drifts and Ukraine presses for stronger European leadership.
Far-right party signals it may withdraw support for minority government, raising prospect of fresh political crisis just four months after Barnier's fall
Paris court finds National Rally leader guilty of misappropriating €3 million in European Parliament funds, imposing immediate ban that blocks her 2027 presidential run.
Far-right National Rally and centre-left Socialists refuse to back far-left motion, leaving prime minister dependent on case-by-case support with no legislative majority.
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