Meloni Condemns Ban on Marine Le Pen’s Candidacy

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the ban on French far-right leader Marine Le Pen running for office, calling it a disenfranchisement of millions of people. Meloni, leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, told Il Messaggero daily, “I don’t know the merits of the accusations against Marine Le Pen, or the reasons for such a strong decision. But I think that no one who cares about democracy can rejoice at a sentence that targets the leader of a major party and deprives millions of citizens of representation.”

Le Pen was found guilty on Monday of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament for her National Rally (RN) party, charges she denied. As a result, she was barred from running for office for five years, effectively derailing her aspirations for the 2027 French presidency.

Le Pen, who plans to appeal the ruling, was also given a four-year prison sentence. However, she will not go to jail, as half of the sentence was suspended and the remainder will be served with an electronic tag.

Meloni’s deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, also weighed in, calling the sentence a “declaration of war by Brussels.” On social media, Salvini wrote, “In Paris they condemned Marine Le Pen and would like to exclude her from political life. A bad film that we are also seeing in other countries like Romania.”

Salvini, a known eurosceptic, often criticizes EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron. His League party is part of the same European Parliament bloc as Le Pen’s National Rally, Patriots for Europe, and the two leaders are closely allied.

Salvini went on to label the sentence a “declaration of war by Brussels” and warned, “At a time when the war instincts of Von der Leyen and Macron are frightening. We don’t let ourselves be intimidated, we don’t stop: full speed ahead my friend!”