The sentence handed down to Marine Le Pen, the head of the parliamentary faction of the French National Rally party, proves US Vice President JD Vance is right about the EU, son of the American leader Donald Trump Jr. said on X.
"France is sending Le Pen to jail and barring her from running?! Are they just trying to prove [JD Vance] was right about everything?" he wrote.
Vance, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 14, blasted the EU for censorship, including for blocking social networks. He said that Europe is afraid of its own voters and is useless to the United States in this form. He said that illegal migrants regularly commit crimes in the EU and advised to tighten border controls.
On Monday, a court in Paris found Le Pen guilty of embezzling EU funds and sentenced her to four years in prison, two of which she will have to wear an electronic bracelet (the remaining two years are suspended). The verdict, according to experts, means she will not be able to run for president of France in 2027. As explained by Le Figaro, Le Pen may retain her parliamentary mandate and the post of chairman of the party's faction, but she will not be able to participate in possible early elections to the National Assembly (lower house) of the French parliament.
The US State Department declined to comment.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS earlier that Le Pen's verdict shows the "agony of liberal democracy."
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"Incredible." That was the single word uttered under her breath by Marine Le Pen as she stormed out of a Paris courtroom this morning.
ReplyDeleteShe left the court early – just before hearing that she was barred from running for office for five years after being found guilty of embezzlement of EU funds – almost certainly ruling her out from standing in the 2027 French presidential election.
Without even waiting for the judge to pronounce the full details of the sentence, the head of the National Rally knew that her political goose was cooked.
There would be no reprieve pending appeal. The bar on running for office was real and immediate.
The leader of the French National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, has called on his supporters to hold protests opposing the verdict against Marine Le Pen, head of the parliamentary faction of the party, which stripped her of the right to participate in the elections.
ReplyDelete"The verdict that prevents Marine Le Pen from running for president in 2027 is a scandalous attack on democracy. Mass peaceful actions should show that the will of the people is stronger," the politician wrote on X.
The verdict that was handed down to the leader of the National Rally Party faction in the French parliament Marine Le Pen is a blow for French democracy as a whole, said National Rally President Jordan Bardella, commenting on Le Pen losing her voting rights for five years.
ReplyDelete"Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly convicted: It was French democracy that was killed," he wrote on X.
Eric Ciotti, former president of Republicans wondered on X whether France remains a democracy.
"The democratic destiny of our nation has been confiscated by an outrageous judicial cabal," he wrote.
Die Verurteilung von Marine Le Pen hat europaweit für Schlagzeilen gesorgt. Zahlreiche Medien berichteten eilig darüber, während erste Reaktionen nicht lange auf sich warten ließen.
ReplyDeleteItaliens Vize-Regierungschef Matteo Salvini sprach von einer "Kriegserklärung Brüssels", während der Kreml das Urteil als "Verletzung demokratischer Normen" bezeichnete.
"Die Gerichtsentscheidung gegen die Vorsitzende der französischen Partei Rassemblement National ist eine innere Angelegenheit Frankreichs", erklärte Peskow. "Was wir beobachten ist aber, dass man sich dort im politischen Prozess nicht scheut, die Grenzen der Demokratie zu überschreiten."
Auch in der EU äußerten sich zahlreiche Politiker solidarisch mit Le Pen.
Matteo Salvini erklärte: "Diejenigen, die das Urteil der Wähler fürchten, sehen sich oft in den Urteilen der Gerichte bestätigt." Von dieser "Kriegserklärung Brüssels" wolle er sich aber nicht bremsen lassen. "Wir lassen uns nicht einschüchtern, wir lassen uns nicht aufhalten", betonte er.
Der niederländische Politiker Geert Wilders zeigte sich empört über das "harte Urteil" und betonte, dass Le Pen dennoch die nächste Präsidentin Frankreichs werden könne.
Ungarns Premier Viktor Orbán stellte sich ebenfalls hinter die französische Politikerin und schrieb auf X:
"Ich bin Marine!"