Marine Le Pen, a leading presidential contender for France's far-right National Rally (RN), received a reduced sentence on appeal. The ruling opened the path to her running in next year's presidential election. However, the court upheld the guilty verdict for embezzling European Parliament funds.
According to the Financial Times on Monday, a three-judge panel sentenced Le Pen to three years in prison. Of that, two years were suspended. The remaining year can be served under electronic monitoring.
The court also shortened the period of her ineligibility to run for office. The earlier ban had taken effect immediately, blocking her from running in the 2027 presidential election. That election will choose a successor to President Emmanuel Macron.
Whether Le Pen will actually run remains unclear. She said last week that she would not run if forced to wear an electronic monitoring device. She cited restrictions on the freedom to campaign as the reason.
After the sentencing, Le Pen left through the back door of the court without making any public statement, following discussions with her legal team. She and RN officials headed to party headquarters to discuss their next steps. Le Pen is expected to announce whether she will run for president later in the day.
If She Withdraws, Bardella Expected to Run — 4 Points Ahead of Le Pen
If Le Pen drops out of the presidential race, the landscape will shift dramatically. She has held a commanding lead in all hypothetical first-round matchups. In that case, her successor, Jordan Bardella, would run instead.
Bardella has a solid base of working-class support within the party. He is also gaining popularity among young and wealthy voters. However, it remains questionable whether voters will send the inexperienced figure to the Élysée Palace. In a recent Ifop poll, Bardella recorded 34% in the first round. That is 4 percentage points higher than Le Pen. This suggests he could absorb voters Le Pen has failed to win over.
Le Pen has challenged for the presidency three times since 2012, failing each time. Her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founded the National Front (FN) and ran five times. Marine Le Pen later changed the party's name in an attempt to "detoxify" its xenophobic image.
Meanwhile, the investigation into RN's finances began in 2015. It started when the European Parliament accused the party of misusing EU funds by hiring staff who worked in French domestic politics instead of on Brussels business. Le Pen and 23 associates, including nine former members of the European Parliament, were sent to trial in 2024. French prosecutors alleged they misappropriated about 4.4 million euros (about 6.6 billion won) in taxpayer money between 2004 and 2016.
Prosecutors argued that Le Pen diverted funds allocated to members of the European Parliament in Brussels. They said the money was used improperly, including to employ her father's bodyguard and personal secretary. Last March, the Paris criminal court found all the former members and some staff guilty of running a "fake contracts" scheme. It particularly identified Le Pen as the leading figure. Le Pen, who has maintained her innocence, appealed the ruling.
