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Jakub Krupa
Elsewhere today, I will also be following:
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updates on Ukraine;
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the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, which includes debates on the recent EU summit, Ukraine and US tariffs, and could see some news on Radio Free Europe;
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The EU is set to present its strategy on tackling hybrid threats to the bloc;
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Poland, Sweden and Britain are set to launch a new air policing operation as part of Nato;
and, no doubt, many others.
Never a slow news day these days.
Morning opening: This is not the end
Jakub Krupa
Despite the Paris court’s unambigous decision to ban Marine Le Pen from running for public office for five years, effective immediately, it is increasingly clear that this is not the end of this story.
Speaking on TF1 last night, Le Pen said she would “pursue whatever legal avenues” she could to prevent herself from being “eliminated”. “I’m not going to submit to a denial of democracy this easily,” she said.
Le Pen, who was not found to have benefited personally from the embezzlement, insisted she had done nothing wrong. “I am going to appeal because I am innocent,” she said.
Overnight, US president Donald Trump joined a growing list of populist and far-right leaders – including Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Italy’s Matteo Salvini, and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders – offering their support to Le Pen, saying it was “a very big deal.”
“I know all about it, and a lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted of anything,” he said.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s billionaire owner, who has backed the far right in Germany and plays a major role in Trump’s administration, said the sentence against Le Pen would “backfire, like the legal attacks against president Trump”.
And this morning, Le Pen’s close party ally and potential presidential candidate if she remains banned, National Rally president Jordan Bardella continued in the same vein, loyally declaring his continuing support for Le Pen.
Appearing on Europe1, he said the French should be “outraged” by the decision, and he said the party would organise demonstrations and leafleting actions against the decision on the weekend.
He said the decision was “disproportionate” and claimed the party’s right to a fair trial was violated as “judges have decided to purely and simply eliminate the candidate of the National Rally from the presidential race,” according to quotes carried in the French media.
First polls asking the French what they make of the decision show they are deeply divided in their opinion.
An Elabe poll for BFMTV showed that the plurality of 42% said they were satisfied with the decision, with 29% against, and 29% expressing no strong views on the matter.
Asked more directly about their view of the legal process, 57% said it was normal, while 42% sided with the NR’s narrative that it was a blatant move to eliminate Le Pen from the 2027 race.
57% of voters also pointed to Bardella as the heir apparent to Le Pen, with as many as 87% of the NR’s voters backing his candidacy as the best available alternative.
For what it’s worth, he said he wouldn’t even entertain that scenario until all avenues for challenging the ban have been exhausted.
This story is not going away and we will bring you all the updates along the way, as usual – alongside all other big stories of the day across Europe.
It’s Tuesday, 1 April 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.
