Le Pen and her co-defendants were accused of illicitly siphoning European Parliament funds to pay for party employees who seldom (or never) dealt with affairs in Brussels or Strasbourg. The court estimated that the accused had embezzled more than €4 million, €474,000 of which Le Pen was held personally responsible for as an MEP.
“In general, our observations of European capitals indicate that they are absolutely not averse to going beyond the bounds of democracy during the political process,” Peskov needled.
Le Pen has ties to Russia through a controversial bank loan, which the National Rally took out in 2014 and only announced it had paid back in 2023. The loan’s specter hung over the party for years, with Le Pen being forced to rebut accusations that she was close to Moscow.
The French court also fined Le Pen €100,000 and sentenced her to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, in the EU funds case. The judges did not rule that those penalties should take immediate effect, so they could be delayed by a possible appeal.
‘Je suis Marine’
In Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands, some of Europe’s most prominent right-wingers reacted to the ruling with anger.
“Je suis Marine!” said Orbán, whose Fidesz party sits with Le Pen’s National Rally in the Patriots group at European Parliament level in Brussels, after she was found guilty but before the final verdict was handed down.
