Global leaders back Marine Le Pen despite embezzlement conviction — Who will lead France’s far right?

France far right leader Marine Le Pen receives support from global leaders

A French court on Monday convicted Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right party, of embezzling public funds in a fake jobs scam at the EU Parliament. She was handed a four-year prison sentence and banned from holding public office for five years, blocking her from contesting the 2027 presidential election.

This marks a significant setback for her political career. After the court convicted her lawyer said that she would appeal her conviction for embezzlement of public funds.

The verdict quickly drew criticism from Le Pen’s allies at home and abroad.

Pen gets global support

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán showed his support by posting "Je suis Marine!" in French (translates as I am Marine) on X, mirroring the "Je suis Charlie" slogan that expressed solidarity with the victims of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris.

The spokesperson of Russian government Dmitry Peskov said that the “more and more European capitals are going down the path of violating democratic norms”.

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders expressed shock on social media over the "incredibly tough verdict," voicing his full confidence in Marine Le Pen and hoping she would overturn the ruling on appeal and "become President of France."

Meanwhile, Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s Vox party, who hosted Le Pen and other nationalist figures at a summit in Madrid earlier this year, condemned the ruling, stating, “They will never succeed to silence the voice of the French people.”

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro condemned the French court ruling, calling it "left-wing judicial activism." Bolsonaro likened the ruling to the legal challenges he faced in Brazil, accusing the judiciary of politically motivated actions.

Is this conviction Marine Le Pen’s ‘political death’?

The court ruling has effectively blocked Marine Le Pen from contesting the 2027 presidential election, where she was considered a leading contender.

She as who managed to secure the second position in both the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, has condemned the trial as an effort to ruin her political career, describing it as her "political death."

Marine Le Pen and nine members of her National Rally (RN) party were convicted for using European Parliament funds to hire "fictitious" assistants who actually worked for the party between 2004 and 2016.

Twelve assistants were also convicted for concealing the scheme, valued at 2.9 million euros. Prosecutors accused Le Pen and others of diverting over 4.1 million euros to pay party staff in France, but the defendants argued the funds were used legitimately.

Judge Benedicte de Perthuis found Marine Le Pen and eight other former EU lawmakers, along with 12 assistants, guilty of embezzling EU funds to benefit their party.

Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended and served under home detention. The court also fined her party two million euros ($2.16 million), half of which was suspended.

Pen's successor 

As Le Pen’s political future faces uncertainty, the major question now is: who will succeed her?

Jordan Bardella, 29, who took over as leader of Marine Le Pen's National Rally party in 2021, is seen as her natural successor. Had Le Pen won the presidency, Bardella would likely have become her prime minister. In a recent poll, Bardella surpassed Le Pen in approval ratings for the first time since assuming leadership of the party.