Le Pen

The Guardian view on the French presidential election campaign: only the far right will profit from division | Editorial

Mainstream politicians should remember that in the battle to defeat Jordan Bardella or Marine Le Pen, unity is strengthLess than a year before the most important French presidential election in the history of the Fifth Republic, the phoney war is almost over. On 7 July, a court will decide whether to uphold Marine Le Pen’s appeal against a fraud conviction and a five-year ban from public office. Should she lose, her party’s 30‑year‑old president, Jordan Bardella, will be confirmed...

Brussels’ nightmare French election scenario risks coming true: Bardella vs. Mélenchon

PARIS — Brussels’ nightmare scenario is no longer looking far-fetched: a French presidential election next year in which both candidates in the runoff hail from the political extremes and hold a deeply skeptical outlook on the EU and NATO. Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally — the nationalist, anti-immigration party of Marine Le Pen — has long been the favorite to win the 2027 race, but mainstream centrist parties have been hoping they can find a unifying challenger to beat...

French football violence fires up far right ahead of 2027 election and World Cup

PARIS — France’s far right is trying to capitalize on a wave of outrage that followed football rioting across the country, as the sport takes center stage for the next seven weeks. Wild celebrations in the wake of Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the UEFA Champions League final descended into violence on Saturday night, much of it driven by groups of youths from the capital’s poorer suburban districts. The outbreak of violence has heightened concerns about...

Macron dreams of burnishing his legacy via French World Cup glory

PARIS — Kylian Mbappé and the French national football team will travel to North America this month dreaming of winning the World Cup for the third time. For France’s lame-duck president, Emmanuel Macron, it’ll be one final chance to draft off football success in a way he’s so far failed to achieve. “When it comes to football, the president absolutely doesn’t have to force it, he can talk about it for hours,” said Karl Olive, a lawmaker who is close to Macron.

Bardella: European countries should buy French warplanes to join nuclear club

PARIS — European countries should buy French warplanes instead of U.S. ones to benefit from France’s new nuclear deterrent initiative, far-right leader Jordan Bardella said on Thursday evening. “Before asking France to extend its nuclear umbrella, our European partners must stop buying [American-made] F-35s and start buying Rafales instead,” he told French broadcaster LCI. Despite making that demand, he did underline that France should stick with the nuclear doctrine...

AfD, Vox mingle with ex-US Border Patrol chief, white nationalist leader at ‘remigration summit’

PORTO, Portugal — European far-right activists advocating for the mass deportation of immigrants and their descendants are getting a boost from the Trump administration’s embrace of their key catchword: remigration. Some 500 activists and influencers gathered south of Porto on Saturday to discuss the concept, once a fringe term only whispered in far-right circles. The United States’ former Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino and American white nationalist Jared Taylor were VIP guests at...

Greg Bovino Was the Star at a European Remigration Conference

On Saturday morning, as hundreds of far-right activists and lawmakers from across Europe gathered outside a conference center in the central Portuguese town of Figueira da Foz, a group of half a dozen men dressed in identical uniforms of khaki chinos, dark blue shirts, and sunglasses marched into the parking lot. On the lapels of their jackets, some wore the red and blue circular emblem of Patriot Front, the US white-supremacist group formed in the wake of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in...

France’s Far Right Has 2 Leaders. They Don’t Always Have One Voice.

Is Israel planning a full-scale ground invasion of Lebanon?

Israel’s defence minister has announced that his country is expanding its ground campaign in Lebanon. Israel Katz warned of a prolonged operation against the Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, after the Israeli government ordered the destruction of all crossings over the Litani River. The Israeli military also says it expects several more weeks of fighting against Iran.

Bernadette Chirac, widow of former French president, dies at 93

Bernadette Chirac, widow of former French president, dies at 93 Bernadette Chirac, the widow of former French president Jacques Chirac, died at the age of 93, her daughter told AFP on Saturday. Bernadette Chirac, widow of former French president Jacques Chirac, died on Friday evening at the age of 93, her daughter Claude Chirac told AFP on Saturday. Born Bernadette Chodron de Courcel, Chirac “passed away peacefully in the evening, surrounded by her loved ones”, her daughter said.