French populist leader Marine Le Pen targeted again as European prosecutors have opened up an investigation into her party finances.
Alongside partners at the now-defunct Identity and Democracy (ID) coalition in the European Parliament, the National Rally (RN) is facing accusations of having “unduly spent” over 4.3 million euros between 2019 and 2024, according to Le Figaro.
On Tuesday, the European prosecutor’s office said that it would not give further details “in order not to compromise the results of the investigation”.
However, previous reports have claimed that some of the funds in question were directed to two companies tied to relatives of Marine Le Pen. Claims have been made that the firms were significantly overpaid for administrative tasks, such as document printing.
Le Pen deputy and president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, characterised the investigation as merely “a new operation of harassment” from Brussels against populist politicians.
Bardella, who also leads the Patriots of Europe group, which supplanted the ID group in the European Parliament, added: “I think no one is fooled by this type of operation.”
The fresh investigation against the National Rally follows a trial in France, which found in March that Le Pen had misused EU funds to support her party’s national political activities.
Although it is reportedly an open secret that many politicians in Brussels do the same — with a report from April finding that one in five EU lawmakers had broken the same rules — the court imposed a “political death sentence” on Le Pen, banning her from standing for office for the next five years.
Crucially, this would include the 2027 French presidential election, in which she has remained the undisputed frontrunner after previously falling short multiple times to President Emmanuel Macron, who is prevented by term limits from running again.
Le Pen immediately launched an appeal against the ruling, and the French Court of Appeal has stated that it plans to deliver a final verdict in the case by next year, allowing sufficient time for a campaign should she be cleared of the charges.
However, rather than putting her faith solely in the left-wing judiciary in France, Le Pen also petitioned the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) this week, arguing that the ban on her standing for office — which remains in place during the appeal process — contravenes her basic rights, including to the presumption of innocence.
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