Led by Hungary, numerous voices were raised today among the European far right due to the verdict of the leader of the French National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, who was found guilty by a French court of embezzling European Parliament funds and banned from running for public office for the next five years.
She was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, and a fine of 100.000 euros.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a close advisor to US President Donald Trump, condemned the "abuse of the judicial system" and warned that "the stick will come back".
The Kremlin had previously expressed regret over the "violation of democratic norms."
"Our observation of what is happening in the capitals of Europe shows that they are not at all shy about going beyond the framework of democracy during the political process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded.
The leader of France's right-wing National Rally (RN), who will appeal the verdict, has her future seriously jeopardized as she was considered the favorite for the 2027 French presidential election after three failed attempts.
"I am Marin," her Hungarian ally, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, wrote on the X website. Orban believes she is joining the ranks of persecuted "patriots" like Donald Trump and Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
Salvini, who also has to deal with his country's courts, urged Marine Le Pen not to allow herself to be intimidated.
He condemned the "declaration of war from Brussels" which, according to him, is the source of the conviction of Le Pen, who was found guilty of charging the European Parliament for the work of people who actually worked for her RN party.
In the face of the verdict, which was deemed political, everyone called for the fight to continue.
"They will not succeed in silencing the voice of the French people," warned the leader of the Spanish Vox party, Santiago Abascal.
He invited Le Pen to Madrid in February, along with Orban and other leaders of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, emboldened by Donald Trump's return to the White House.
In the Netherlands, far-right leader Geert Wilders said he was "shocked" by the verdict, which he called "unimaginably harsh."
"I am convinced that she will win the appeal and become president of France," he wrote on the Iks website.
The only exception to these statements by the European far right is the German far right party Alternative for Germany, which did not want to respond to Agence France Presse's inquiry, as Le Pen's party distanced itself from that party with very radical views due to various scandals.
This scenario of a political ban is reminiscent of recent political events in Romania, where far-right candidate Calin Đorđescu was disqualified from the race by the Constitutional Court. He unexpectedly came first in the first round of parliamentary elections on November 24 after an intense campaign on the social network TikTok. The election was later annulled due to suspicions of Russian interference, in a rare move within the European Union.
This former high-ranking official critical of the EU and NATO was later indicted and received support from Elon Musk, while US Vice President J.D. Vance condemned the Romanian authorities for being so afraid of the people that they silenced him.
Nationalist George Simion, the favorite for the new first round of elections on May 4 in Romania, spoke about the "black page of the fragile democracy" of that country.
This time he criticized France, which he said "targets and destroys" its political rivals, using a method that "came directly from the instructions of totalitarian regimes."
France Presse also quoted Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik as saying that the courts have become tools of those who fear democracy. Dodik, who is under arrest for threatening the constitutional order, also ended his message with "I am Marin" in French.
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