00:00Marine Le Pen has announced she'll be the far-right National Rally's French presidential candidate
00:04after an appeals court yesterday cleared the way for her to run next year.
00:08For more, we can go straight over to the European Parliament in Strasbourg,
00:12where our correspondent Marine Gwynne is standing by for us this morning.
00:15So, Marie Le Pen cleared to run, but still facing legal challenges. Tell us more.
00:25Exactly, Maeve. So, Marine Le Pen, very defiant last night,
00:28coming out saying she will be the National Rally's candidate in those French presidential elections taking place next April.
00:37There were doubts because an appeals court was ruling on a conviction she received in March last year
00:44related to the embezzlement of up to 4.4 million euros in European funds.
00:50She was found guilty. The court upheld that guilty verdict.
00:53But it did significantly cut down the ban on public office, the five-year ban on public office.
01:00She had originally been handed down to just 50 months, effectively.
01:04She has already served those 50 months. She's now cleared to run.
01:08Now, I'm in Strasbourg, Maeve, and there was a sense of apprehension of expectation all afternoon yesterday
01:12after that verdict came because the court also said that Marine Le Pen must wear an electronic ankle tag for
01:18one year.
01:19She had previously said that she would not run for president in those conditions.
01:23It will clearly impact her ability to travel and so on.
01:26But last night, she came out saying she will be able to campaign without that ankle tag.
01:31Let's take a listen.
01:35As you know, I said that I would not campaign with an ankle bracelet.
01:39However, as I have the option of lodging an appeal to the court of cassation,
01:43which was not necessarily the case in other scenarios,
01:45and as an appeal to the court of cassation suspends the effect of the judgment,
01:49I will therefore be campaigning without an ankle bracelet.
01:52So this evening, I am a candidate. I am running for president.
02:00So Marine Le Pen there clearly saying she will not be stepping aside
02:04and making way for her 30-year-old young protégé, Jordan Bardella, as some had expected.
02:10She did say last night that she has Bardella's full support,
02:13and in her words that they make a formidable couple, a winning partnership, she said,
02:19and she will have his support going into this presidential campaign.
02:22And on that, I'm joined now in the European Parliament by a member of Marine Le Pen's National Rally Party,
02:28a member of the European Parliament, Fabrice LĂ©geri.
02:31Sir, good to have you with us this morning.
02:33First of all, do you believe Marine Le Pen made the right political judgment yesterday,
02:39choosing to stay on as your presidential candidate?
02:42Yeah, good morning. Thank you for the invitation.
02:44Of course, Marine Le Pen made yesterday the right decision.
02:47This is the first victory for French democracy because it's not up to judges to decide who will be the
02:54candidate
02:55and who will run for presidential election.
02:57Yet the French judges did uphold her conviction.
03:01She is guilty, along with other members of your party, of embezzling millions in European funds.
03:07What does it say about your party that your first choice presidential candidate faces such serious charges?
03:13First of all, I would like to clarify again that she is not guilty because this is not,
03:18there is no personal enrichment.
03:20And Marine Le Pen is further appealing to the top Supreme Court in France in judicial matters,
03:27the Cour de Cassation.
03:28And she will demonstrate that she is not guilty at all.
03:33So that's the main point I have to say about that.
03:37And then, of course, that means that we are confident that, well, there is no mistrust in the eyes of
03:46French people
03:46because French people know absolutely what this is about.
03:50She's confident she will be able to campaign without this electronic ankle tag.
03:53Yet this is sure to cast a shadow.
03:56She is facing this sort of home imprisonment for a year, essentially.
04:01How do you think that will impact the campaign?
04:03She won't be able to go out on the campaign trail.
04:05Well, as Marine Le Pen is appealing further to the top Supreme Court,
04:10this, let's say, temporary sanction decided by the appeal court will be suspended.
04:16And we are confident, again, that Marine Le Pen and our colleagues will not be found guilty by the top
04:24court, Cour de Cassation.
04:25So I must ask you, we're here in the European Parliament.
04:28What does the fact that Marine Le Pen is the candidate mean for Europe?
04:32We know in the past she has campaigned to take France out of the Eurozone, out of the European Union.
04:39Does she inevitably need to now soften her stance and become more palatable to Brussels?
04:43Well, already in, well, the last presidential elections in 2022,
04:50Marine Le Pen supported a policy which is to improve the European Union as insiders.
04:56So our policy is not Brexit, our policy is to join forces with other governments, with other nations in order
05:04to improve the EU functioning.
05:07And I can say as a member of the European Parliament that we have already managed to get many results
05:15in the past months here in the European Parliament.
05:18So that shows it is possible.
05:20I can give you some examples.
05:22Return regulation, less, well, cutting the red tape, the omnibus regulations and so on and so on.
05:29So I'm confident this will be an opportunity for all, not only for French people, but also for other European
05:37nations.
05:38Okay, Fabrice Lageri, that's all we have time for, I'm afraid.
05:40Thank you for joining us this morning on Europe Today.
05:43I'm sure we'll be following this story very closely over the coming weeks and months.
05:47May I back to you?
Comments