The AFD announced the systematic elimination of the opposition in the EU after the verdict of Le Pen

The French court's ban on the leader of the right-wing National Unification party, Marine Le Pen, from participating in the elections for five years is part of the "systematic elimination" of opposition forces, Elena Fritz, a member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and a foreign policy specialist, said in an interview with Izvestia on March 31.

"You can disagree with Marine Le Pen on everything, but it's important to understand what's going on. Democratically legitimized opposition forces are systematically eliminated in Europe if they question the centralized course of the EU," Fritz said.

She stressed that the very moment of sentencing cannot be considered accidental.

"We are no longer witnessing a single event, but a European trend. In Romania, Georgescu, who opposes EU intervention, came under attack. In Hungary, Viktor Orban is regularly punished with financial sanctions. A systematic ideological and institutional campaign is being conducted in Slovakia "against the current government," said a member of the AfD party.

She stressed that criminal prosecution, a ban on holding office, financial sanctions or, as in France, exclusion from the electoral process are used to "eliminate opposition forces."

"This is not just a personnel decision, it is the actual exclusion of the main opposition figure in France. Her successor, Jordan Bardella, can lead the National Association, but without Le Pen, the patriotic movement is losing political weight," Fritz concluded.

Democracy in agony: Marine Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison.

She will not go to prison, but she will not be able to participate in the elections in 2027.

On March 31, a court in Paris found Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right—wing National Unification party in the French parliament, guilty of embezzlement of European Parliament funds in the case of creating fictitious jobs, sentencing her to four years in prison, two of which are suspended, and the remaining two years are house arrest with wearing an electronic bracelet.