Le Pen verdict triggers uproar from far right in France and beyond

PARIS (AP) — The court’s decision landed like a political shockwave — barring French far-right leader Marine Le Pen from holding office for five years and instantly upending the country's next presidential race. By Monday afternoon, the ruling had reverberated far beyond France’s borders, sending ripples through nationalist circles across Europe and igniting jubilation and fury in equal measure.

Supporters of Le Pen decried the verdict as a brazen assault on democracy. Detractors punched the air in celebration. And even some of her fiercest critics wondered aloud whether the court had overstepped, cutting short the candidacy of a woman voters were still free to support.

Once seen as a frontrunner for France’s 2027 election and a would-be steward of Europe’s second-largest economy, Le Pen was convicted of embezzling European Union funds — an outcome that could not only remove her from the ballot, but reshape the political map she had dominated for more than a decade.

Europe's far right closes ranks

If Le Pen’s sentencing jolted the French political system, it sent a thunderclap through the nationalist corridors of Europe. From Madrid to Budapest, far-right leaders framed the verdict not as the fall of one figure, but as an existential threat to their entire movement.

“I am shocked by the incredibly tough verdict against Marine Le Pen,” said Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders. “I support and believe in her 100% and I trust she will win the appeal and become President of France.”

Italy’s Vice Premier Matteo Salvini went further, calling the ruling “a declaration of war by Brussels.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, never one to mince words, declared simply: “I am Marine.”

In Belgium, far-right Vlaams Belang leader Tom Van Grieken called the court’s decision “an attack on democracy” and pledged, “Le Pen can continue to count on our support.”

Spain’s Santiago Abascal, head of the hard-right Vox party, warned: “They will not succeed in silencing the voice of the French people.”

Even Moscow joined the chorus. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the case was another sign that “more and more European capitals are going down the path of trampling over democratic norms.”

A martyr in the making?

In France, where Le Pen spent decades recasting the far right in softer tones and sharper suits, the reaction from her camp was swift.

Jordan Bardella, her chosen successor at the helm of the National Rally, reached for the language of martyrdom. “Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned,” he declared. “It is French democracy that was killed.”

Éric Zemmour, another firebrand of the nationalist right and a former presidential contender himself, struck a similar note. “It is not for judges to decide who the people must vote for,” he said, casting the verdict as a blow not just to Le Pen, but to the democratic process itself.

From the plaza, relief and rage

In Paris’ Republic Plaza, where public demonstrations often unfold, Le Pen detractors punched the air in celebration.

“We were here in this square to celebrate the death of her father,” said Jean Dupont, 45, a schoolteacher. “And this is now the death of Le Pen’s presidential ambitions.”

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Front and a figure long associated with racism and Holocaust denial, died earlier this year at age 96.

Sophie Martin, 34, a graphic designer, was among those in a celebratory mood. “I had to check the date — I thought it was April Fool’s Day,” she said. “But it’s not. She’s finally been knocked down. We’ve lived with her poison in our politics for too long.”

Still, not everyone welcomed the ruling. Lucien Bernard, 64, a retired civil servant, expressed concern. “It’s a sad day for democracy,” he said. “Whether you love or hate her, the people should not be denied a chance to express their vote in a country that is supposedly a leading Western democracy.”

The left responds with restraint

Even from the far left, where Le Pen has long been a detested figure, the response was more measured than might have been expected. France Unbowed, the radical left party often at ideological war with Le Pen’s movement, acknowledged the gravity of the charges but warned against using the courts to decide political outcomes.

“We take note of this decision by the courts, even though we reject on principle that legal recourse should be impossible for any defendant.”

Their message was unmistakable: the far right should be defeated at the urns, not in the courts. “We will defeat them again tomorrow at the ballot box, no matter who their candidate is.”