Intriguing verdict that poses gut-wrenching personal dilemma for Le Pen – snap analysis
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
It’s an intriguing verdict: the court has ruled Marine Le Pen eligible to run in next year’s presidential elections by in effect reducing her term of inelegibilty for public office to just 15 months – but at the same time it has ensured it will be very difficult for her to to do so by ordering her to wear an electronic bracelet for one year, something she has repeatedly said she will not do.
It is understood that several senior party members have tried to persuade her to run anyway, but – so far at least – she has refused.
It would obviously be a gut-wrenching personal decision for her to stand aside: transforming the National Rally from a fringe extremist group to the largest single party in parliament has been pretty much her life’s work, and this would have been her fourth tilt at the presidency.
But the decision may be made easier by the fact that Jordan Bardella, her protege, is polling even higher than her – and she would be able to act as his closest adviser on the campaign trail.
Key events
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Hungarian state news channel suspends broadcasting as part of post-Orbán overhaul
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Trump says ‘very disappointed’ with Nato, who was ‘not there for us’ on Iran
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Trump’s comments are not new, but show how difficult this summit will be – snap analysis
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Trump says his relationship with Italy’s Meloni ‘soured a little bit’ over refusal to help with Iran
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Trump says Putin, Zelenskyy ‘both want to make a deal’ on Ukraine war
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Macron declines to comment on Le Pen ruling
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Details of Le Pen’s tag monitoring to be decided at a later date
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Le Pen arrives at RN’s HQ for political talks on her future
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Le Pen not expected to comment until her prime time TV interview
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Intriguing verdict that poses gut-wrenching personal dilemma for Le Pen – snap analysis
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Le Pen leaves court without talking to reporters
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Ruling shifts the decision on Le Pen’s presidential run from legal to political – snap analysis
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Paris court theoretically clears way for Le Pen presidential run, but with electronic tag, which she rejected as no-go
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Court in session to deliver verdict in Le Pen’s appeal
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Le Pen arrives in court for her appeal ruling
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Possible outcomes for Le Pen’s appeal
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What to expect from Le Pen ruling in the coming hours?
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Marine Le Pen’s political future at stake with ruling on electoral ban this afternoon
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Russia following Nato summit with ‘great interest,’ Kremlin spokesperson says
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‘The hum of machinery must become a roar,’ as Russia, China, North Korea ‘increasingly working together’ and ‘do not have our best interests in mind,’ Rutte warns
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Rutte speaks in Ankara as Nato two-day summit gets under way
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‘Important work’ at Nato summit with focus on drone deals, air defence, Zelenskyy says
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‘I slept really well last night. And you?,’ Belgian PM’s cat mocks Trump after World Cup win, ahead of Nato summit
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At least 18 people injured in Damascus explosions near Macron’s hotel
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Nato announces plans to invest in antidrone, surveillance capabilities
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Reports of explosions in Damascus, Syria, during France’s Macron visit
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Europe faces up to prospect US may be unable to arm Nato allies
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Morning opening: Nato summit gets under way with focus on spending, capabilities
As Jakub reported a short while ago, M1, the main public television channel in Hungary, and the Kossuth radio station have temporarily gone off-air, as part of PM Péter Magyar’s efforts to undo Viktor Orbán’s 16-year-long hold on the media.
Kossuth radio’s frequencies were broadcasting a Bartok classical music programme, AFP reports. And, according to a statement from Hungary’s state media umbrella group MTVA, M1 television will resume broadcasting in the evening without news programmes.
Jakub Krupa
I am now handing the blog over to Lucy Campbell to keep you up to date with all the news this afternoon.
But I will be back for the main event – Le Pen’s prime time TV interview at 7pm UK (8pm Paris time), where she is expected to announce her plans regarding the 2027 presidential run.
Hungarian state news channel suspends broadcasting as part of post-Orbán overhaul
Meanwhile, there is a big development in Hungary, with the Hungarian state TV’s news channel going off-air with an apology for “lies” it broadcast during the 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s era.
In a post on Facebook, Hungary’s new prime minister Péter Magyar hailed the move as “a historic day.”
“Today the broadcast of propaganda on public media platforms has ended.
They lied by night. They lied by day. They lied on every channel. It’s over now.”
Viewers of Hungary’s M1 channel can only see a black screen with the following message:
“The public media cannot lie. We apologise for doing so for so many years! The public media is now transforming itself to be independent and credible in the future. News service is temporarily suspended. Stay tuned!”
Magyar repeatedly said during the campaign that we would suspend news broadcasts and overhaul the broadcaster if elected, and repeated his plan to do so in the first few days after his major election win in April (Europe Live, 15 April).
A relevant media bill advancing the proposed reforms was passed last month.
A similar scenario unfolded in Poland after the 2023 parliamentary election, with the new government using what critics say were legal loopholes to take the state news channel TVP Info off air for some time.
And there is no public reaction from RN’s Jordan Bardella either, as he is locked in talks with Le Pen at the party HQ in Paris.
Guess we will have to wait till the evening interview to find out what’s next.
Just a reminder that we are expecting to hear from Marine Le Pen on her next steps only later tonight, as she says a prime time TV interview scheduled for 8pm Paris time (7pm UK).
Meanwhile, let’s go back to Paris and bring you some of the first reactions to today’s decision in Le Pen’s case, via Reuters.
European Parliament’s lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve:
“What is crucial for us, and what we have been saying for years, is that they have embezzled and stolen public money, European taxpayers’ money, and indeed French citizens’ money as well.
We have been saying this for years, and it has now been confirmed for the second time, first by the court and today by the Court of Appeal.”
Manon Aubry of the France Unbowed party and its European Parliament group leader:
“The RN entered politics with the slogan ‘heads held high, hands clean’; they are leaving it with ‘heads bowed, hands dirty’.
Whether it is Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella, the RN’s candidate, they are equally adept at misappropriating public funds. Marine Le Pen, moreover, is wearing an electronic tag.”
Marine Tondelier, the leader of France’s Green party:
“Contrary to what the RN has been shouting for years, there is therefore no judicial conspiracy. One could even say that she has benefited from great leniency … In a normal world where the RN had even the slightest shred of morality, she would step down from running herself. Because one cannot decently stand for election after having been convicted in this way for misappropriating public funds, even if one remains eligible.”
Left-wing MP François Ruffin from the Debout! party:
“The very fact that it even crosses our minds that Marine Le Pen might campaign whilst wearing an electronic tag is a sign that corruption is accepted in our country.”
Trump says ‘very disappointed’ with Nato, who was ‘not there for us’ on Iran
In other comments on Europe, Trump also said he was “very disappointed” with Nato over Iran, and even suggested he wouldn’t be taking part in the summit if it wasn’t in Turkey, run by “his friend” Erdoğan.
“We’ve invested trillions of dollars in Nato. Why? To protect European countries and others, Canada, etc. but to protect people, countries from, generally speaking, it used to be the Soviet Union, now it’s Russia, and Russia, and I say that’s fine, but you would think that they’d be very willing to do something to help us, and they really weren’t.”
He pointedly criticised the UK – and the outgoing prime minister, Keir Starmer – and others, like France and Germany for their decision to not help on Iran.
“We didn’t need any help at all. And in a way, I was testing people, I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there, because … we helped them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us.
Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it’s okay, but you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them.”
Our US politics live blog is keeping a close eye on Trump’s activities in Ankara:
Trump’s comments are not new, but show how difficult this summit will be – snap analysis
All of that is obviously not new from Trump – he keeps repeating all these incendiary lines on Italy, Greenland, removing troops, and immigration regularly – but it shows his attitude ahead of tomorrow’s Nato meeting.
And it’s very much the attitude that European leaders wanted to avoid.
Expect tricky discussions and fireworks in Ankara.
Trump also spoke about Greenland, doubling down on his claim that it should be controlled by the US, not Denmark.
He pointed to US spending on deterring Russia, adding that he US did “not have to spend any money” and “could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe,” because “as you probably noticed, Europe is a very different place than it was 20 years ago” because of “immigration and energy.”
“If they are not careful with those two things, you are not going to have a Europe any more,” he said.
Trump says his relationship with Italy’s Meloni ‘soured a little bit’ over refusal to help with Iran
Trump also got asked about his recent criticism of Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
He said she is “a nice person,” but their relationships “got bad” and “soured a little bit” after Italy refused to help the US in Iran.
“I think she made a mistake … She wasn’t there for us, and I wasn’t happy about that.”
Trump says Putin, Zelenskyy ‘both want to make a deal’ on Ukraine war
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump has been speaking in Ankara as part of his meeting with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Asked about his meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy tomorrow, he went into a long monologue on the state of the war, repeatedly praising Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his conversations with him.
But the bottom line of his point was this:
“I think they both want to make a deal. It’s too bad it took so long, but I think there’s going to be something … going to come out.”
He added:
“They both want to get it settled… I think they are going to, I think we’re going to get it settled hopefully soon.”
He also spoke about the extremely high death toll of the war, and how he wanted to end the war.
Macron declines to comment on Le Pen ruling
France’s Emmanuel Macron has just been asked about his response to the ruling as a joint press conference with Syria’s president Ahmed al-Sharaa.
But he doesn’t take the bait when asked if the ruling is “healthy for democracy.”
He says:
“What is healthy for democracy is that the president of the Republic does not speak about judicial decisions.
Therefore, I will adhere to this principle, especially abroad.”
Details of Le Pen’s tag monitoring to be decided at a later date
Angelique Chrisafis
Paris correspondent
in Paris courtroom
In terms of process, a different judge will consider at a later date the exact workings of any electronic tag or monitoring for Le Pen.
The tag requirement could make any potential presidential campaign politically and logistically difficult.
Le Pen arrives at RN’s HQ for political talks on her future
Le Pen has now arrived at the RN’s HQ in 16th arrondissement and is now believed to be meeting with Jordan Bardella and their closest aides to decide on the next steps.
For what it’s worth, after leaving the court, Le Pen is now en route to her party’s HQ now, followed by what looks like gazillion of reporters, cameras and photographers on mopeds.
The party’s president and a potential back-up presidential candidate Jordan Bardella is believed to be there, so the pair will no doubt want to discuss their next steps.
Le Pen not expected to comment until her prime time TV interview
Angelique Chrisafis
Paris correspondent
in Paris courtroom
Marine Le Pen and her lawyers are not expected to comment on her next steps until she appears on television news tonight at 8pm Paris time.
