Marine Le Pen And Jordan Bardella Meet Germany And Israel Ambassadors Ahead Of 2027 Vote

French far-right leaders met the ambassadors of Germany and Israel in recent months as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) sought to court foreign envoys ahead of next year’s presidential elections.

“With a year to go before the tour de force of the French presidential race, Marine Le Pen (with judicial permission) and her protégé Jordan Bardella are riding with a wide lead over the pack of contenders for the Élysée”

El Mundo

RFI reported that Bardella, who is RN party leader after taking over from Le Pen, met the German ambassador in February, and a diplomatic source told AFP it was "the responsibility of a foreign mission to maintain contacts with all the political forces in the host country concerned".

El Mundo

RFI also said Le Pen met the Israeli ambassador for the first time last month, with the embassy confirming the meeting and a diplomatic source adding that the ambassador "received all political parties" except from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI).

The same RFI account tied the outreach to the political clock for the 2027 vote, noting Le Pen hopes to run for president for a fourth time in 2027 after President Emmanuel Macron stepped down after hitting the two-term limit.

At a Paris meeting hall, hundreds of leftwing voters braved a rainstorm to gather chanting “Unity! Unity!” as they celebrated the 90th anniversary of France’s Popular Front.

The Guardian said the left’s concerns were more immediate, with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) already the biggest single opposition party in parliament and closer to power than it has ever been before.

RFI

Danielle Simonnet, a Paris MP for L’Après, told the Guardian, “Voters on the left want unity – so let’s cut the bullshit and build it,” framing divisions as a way the far right could cement gains.

The Guardian also reported that the leftwing parties vowed to press on with a leftwing primary race for a united candidate in October, seeking to reproduce the New Popular Front that grouped together to hold back the RN in the 2024 snap parliamentary election.

El Mundo said the presidential race is already spinning a year before the Élysée vote, with Marine Le Pen (with judicial permission) and her protégé Jordan Bardella riding with a wide lead over other contenders.

“At a Paris meeting hall this week, hundreds of leftwing voters braved a rainstorm to gather chanting: “Unity”

The Guardian

The article said the campaign is set to run until July 7, when it will be known whether Le Pen wins or loses the appeal of her five-year ban from public office, and it added that “That day it will be known whether Marine Le Pen wins or loses the appeal of her five-year ban from public office.”

El Mundo reported that on July 7 it will also be decided whether Le Pen’s candidacy continues or she resigns, and it described her trial for embezzlement of funds during her tenure as a European Parliament deputy for the National Front as putting suspense at its peak.

The same El Mundo account said Jordan Bardella is the politician with the greatest support among the French at 35% in a Toluna Harris institute poll, ahead of Marine Le Pen at 33%, while it placed Édouard Philippe at 19% and Gabriel Attal at 14%.