Marine Le Pen has regained the right to run for president of France. What you need to know

A court in Paris has overturned the disqualification of right-wing politician Marine Le Pen, who did not allow her to run for president in 2027. The head of the parliamentary faction of the National Union has not yet confirmed that she will participate in the elections, as she has to wear an electronic bracelet for a year due to the case of parliamentary assistants. At the same time, she, along with party chairman Jordan Bardella, is the leader of the presidential race according to polls. What is happening in French politics now is in the Izvestia article.

Le Pen allowed to run

• The presidential race in France in 2027 abruptly changed course after a meeting of the Paris Court of Appeal in the Marine Le Pen case. A panel of three judges reviewed the verdict for embezzlement of funds of the European Parliament and clarified the decision of the first court, which concerned the possibility of running for elected office. Le Pen's suspension was reduced from 60 months to 45 months, and the remaining 30-month term was postponed.

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.

• Thus, the former leader of the right-wing National Union party and the head of its parliamentary faction was given the opportunity to participate in the next presidential election. They will be held on April 18, and a possible second round is scheduled for May 2. For Le Pen, this could be the fourth presidential election. In the last two elections, she lost in the second round to the current head of state, Emmanuel Macron, who will not be able to run again by law.

• However, the issue of Le Pen's participation in the elections has not been definitively resolved. In March 2025, the court found her guilty and sentenced her to four years in prison, of which she must spend two years with an electronic bracelet, and two years of punishment will be suspended. Commenting on this decision, Le Pen then claimed that she would not campaign under police supervision.

• The Court of Appeal reduced not only the period of ineligibility, but also the period of wearing an electronic bracelet to one year. Thus, he formally allowed Le Pen to run, but did not completely release her from the punishment, which will now prevent her from campaigning. In such a situation, it remains for her to decide for herself how to continue her political career.

Another attempt by Le Pen to get into the Elysee Palace may also be hindered by the fact that the National Association has long been secretly betting on the participation of its current leader, Jordan Bardella, who is a member of the European Parliament. Over the past year, polls have shown that French voters put any right-wing candidate first, whether it's Le Pen, who has run three presidential campaigns, or 30-year-old Bardella, who has no such experience.

• At the same time, according to the personal rating, the current leader of the National Association is ahead of his predecessor by several percentage points. Both have equal chances to become the candidate of their party and try to win the election at the most favorable moment for it. A heated debate will now begin among the right about which plan should be followed — to return Le Pen to the vanguard, since fate itself gave her such a chance, or to leave Bardell, who coped with the role of reserve with honor, until the decision of the court of appeal became known, as the favorite.

What was Le Pen accused of?

• The investigation into the case of parliamentary assistants, which almost got Le Pen disqualified, began back in 2014. The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) then accused the politician of paying salaries to the head of its secretariat, Catherine Griese, and security guard Thierry Lejeune from the funds of the European Parliament, although they continued to work in her party and helped perform duties within it.

• The investigation suggested that a whole financial scheme was organized for the fictitious hiring of assistants in the European Parliament, which allowed funds to be appropriated from the pan-European budget. The defendants in the case were several other Le Pen associates, including the mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, and the former vice-chairman of the National Association, Bruno Golnish.

• Le Pen was required to pay damages in the amount of €339,000, and the French prosecutor's office separately insisted on her imprisonment for a period of five years. A guilty verdict would also have led to her receiving political disqualification and losing the opportunity to run for elected office. Le Pen denied the accusations against her, insisting on the political nature of her persecution.

In March 2025, Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison and immediate disenfranchisement for five years. The court did not put the politician in jail, requiring her to wear an electronic bracelet for the first two years and pay a fine of € 100 thousand. In its reasoning, the court noted that Le Pen played a leading role in the system of embezzlement of European Parliament funds and caused damage of 2.9 million euros, but neither she nor the other defendants in the case received personal benefits, but spent the funds received on the needs of the party.