French far-right leader Marine Le Pen announced on Tuesday that she had filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The politician is trying to challenge the court's decision to suspend her from elections.
Meanwhile, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has launched an official investigation into allegations of misuse of EU funds by the far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament.
UNN reports with reference to Euractiv, ORF and Le Monde.
Details
French politician, leader of the French far-right party Marine Le Pen is challenging in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) her temporary suspension from participating in elections, issued by the court.
Le Pen appealed to the Strasbourg court to suspend the immediate execution of the verdict issued by the court of first instance, her party "National Rally" (RN) announced today.
Context
Marine Le Pen and 8 MEPs were found guilty of misappropriating public funds in the case of parliamentary assistants of the "National Rally".
Marine Le Pen, who announced her candidacy for the 2027 presidential race, is accused of misusing money from the European Parliament to pay salaries to her party employees – this amounts to 3 million euros.
In November 2024, the prosecution requested a five-year prison sentence for Marine Le Pen, with the possibility of its execution, as well as five years of imprisonment, two of which with a final verdict, and a fine of 300,000 euros.
Marine Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, and deprived of the right to participate in elections for five years with immediate execution of the sentence.
Le Pen and elections
The most controversial part of the verdict is the ban on her running in elections for five years. This verdict came into force immediately – unlike the partially suspended prison sentence. Le Pen appealed the verdict.
European Prosecutor's Office investigates new allegations of misuse of EU funds
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has launched an official investigation into allegations of misuse of European funds by the far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament, which has since been disbanded.
The Identity and Democracy – ID group also included the National Rally in France, Marine Le Pen's party.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office confirmed to Euractiv.com that "the European Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation."
Last week, Le Monde, among others, reported that parties belonging to the ID family are accused of financial irregularities.
It is reported that between 2019 and 2024, more than 4.3 million euros of EU funds were misused.
The French newspaper writes about this based on a confidential investigation by the Directorate-General for Finance of the European Parliament (DG FINS), which is now also in the possession of NRC. According to this investigation, several ID parties, including registered Republican Party member Marine Le Pen, allegedly concluded contracts or made donations to friendly organizations.
Reference
The Freedom Party was a member of the Identity and Democracy party until 2024, but moved to the far-right "Patriots for Europe" faction, which is led, among others, by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Recall
French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen died at the age of 96. A five-time French presidential candidate, known for his scandalous statements about the Holocaust and racial discrimination.
President of France Emmanuel Macron in the British Parliament warned Europe against excessive dependence on the US and China.