Le Pen admitted abandoning the presidential race if the court ban remains in place.

The leader of the French National Unification Party, Marine Le Pen, has announced that she will not participate in the 2027 presidential election if the court of appeal confirms the ban on her participation in the elections. Politico writes about this on November 12.

"If I am banned from running, or [the Supreme Court] rules in my favor in a few months, it will be too late to run a full—fledged campaign," she said.

Le Pen said that in case of an unfavorable outcome, she would hand over the leadership to her protege, the chairman of the National Unification Party, Jordan Bardell. According to the Elabe survey, both politicians "have a double-digit advantage over their closest rivals."

Earlier, on September 30, a trial began in Paris in the case of money laundering related to the European Parliament against Marine Le Pen and 26 representatives of her National Unification party. They are accused of allegedly improperly using the funds of the European Parliament to pay for the activities of assistants who actually performed work in the interests of the party, rather than engaging in parliamentary duties.

Criminal reprisals: Marine Le Pen was deprived of the right to participate in the 2027 elections.

How will the verdict of the leader of the French opposition affect the balance of political forces in the country

On March 31, a Paris court found Le Pen guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds, which automatically deprives her of a chance to participate in the French presidential election in 2027 and prevents her from holding certain positions.

On July 10, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected Le Pen's request for a temporary measure that requires a stay of execution of the sentence of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions imposed on her by the Paris Criminal Court.

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