French and foreign politicians are reacting to sentences handed down on Monday by a Paris court in a case against the National Rally party (RN) and several of its most prominent figures, including Marine Le Pen, the party’s former leader who currently heads its parliamentary faction.
Le Pen and others have been convicted of embezzling EU funds intended for political assistants and face a variety of sentences, including a five-year ban on seeking public office and two years house arrest.
Several other defendants have also been sentenced to prison terms of various lengths.
RN is the single largest party in the French parliament and the sentencing has sent a shockwave through the country’s, and wider European politics.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has condemned the verdict against French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen as “a declaration of war by Brussels.”
In a post on X on Monday, Salvini compared the outcome of the trial in Paris to the recent barring of independent candidate Calin Georgescu in Romania.
”Those who fear the judgment of the voters often find reassurance in the judgment of the courts,” Salvini said. “A bad film that we are also seeing in other countries such as Romania.”