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​Jordan Bardella, president of Rassemblement National or National Rally, gives a speech and flies French flags at a rally in support of Marine le Pen after her conviction on April 6, 2025.
What We're Watching

Could Jordan Bardella become France’s youngest president?

Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old president of France’s far-right National Rally, aka RN, has announced his readiness to run for the country’s presidency in 2027 if current party leader Marine Le Pen remains barred from contesting the race.

​German police forcibly dispersed a pro-Palestinian protest in Berlin on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.
Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: Berlin expels protesters, French judge gets protection, US disaster aid slows to a trickle, Tesla slumps, Haiti’s anarchy continues, Adams finds his independence, Hungary to leave ICC

Will Marine Le Pen's conviction really keep her out of French politics?
Quick Take

Will Marine Le Pen's conviction really keep her out of French politics?

France's 2027 election just took a twist with Marine Le Pen's conviction. But is she really out of the 2027 race? What does it mean for Europe's political landscape? Ian Bremmer analyzes the fallout in this Quick Take.

​French far-right leader Marine Le Pen
What We're Watching

Le Pen barred from running from office after embezzlement conviction

Oh là là! A French court on Monday found National Rally leader Marine Le Pen guilty of misappropriating European funds to her far-right party, and barred the three-time presidential candidate barred from running for office for the next five years. Le Pen has denied wrongdoing and said last November, “It’s my political death that’s being demanded.”

​France National Front presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen addresses a political rally in Lille on Feb. 25, 2007.
Analysis

Father of the French far right dies

Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose ultranationalist and conservative views enraged millions but also shaped the contemporary French political scene, died on Tuesday at 96.

​French Prime Minister Michel Barnier leaves following the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Nov. 27, 2024.
What We're Watching

French government barrels toward a brick wall

In France, political push came to shove on Monday, as Prime Minister Michel Barnier moved to ram a controversial pensions finance reform bill through the Assemblée Nationale, France’s lower (but more powerful) house of parliament.

A 'coal is dead' placard is seen during the demonstration. Activists from Friends Of The Earth and other environmental groups gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice as the legal challenge to the Whitehaven coal mine in Cumbria begins.
Hard Numbers

Hard Numbers: UK buries coal, Austria’s far right surges, Le Pen faces trial, UN extends but doesn’t expand Haiti mission, Russia spends more on guns (less on butter)

​French political leaders
by ian bremmer

Macron has put France’s fate in Le Pen’s hands

President Emmanuel Macron’s appointment of Michel Barnier as France’s new prime minister on Sept. 5 has put an end to two months of political deadlock and disarray triggered by the Jul. 7 parliamentary election result.

​French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with then-EU Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier in February 2019.
What We're Watching

France’s new PM: Barnier gets the job, but Le Pen holds the cards

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has tapped a political veteran and experienced policymaker to take on the increasingly tough job of prime minister.

Marine Le Pen, French far-right leader and far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally - RN) party candidate, reacts on stage after partial results in the first round of the early French parliamentary elections in Henin-Beaumont, France, June 30, 2024.
What We're Watching

Can Le Pen rewrite French politics next week?

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, aka RN, topped the first round of voting on Sunday, winning about a third of the French vote – the best showing in the party’s half-century history.