Marine Le Pen, three-time presidential candidate and leader of France’s National Rally (NR), is polling with a commanding lead over her opponents in recent surveys. The far-right candidate has vowed to address what she describes as the crisis of “Third World immigrants” in France by shuttering mosques where Islamist radicals spread their influence.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) warned that Le Pen’s victory would mark the first time a far-right government has ruled France since Marshal Petain’s Vichy regime from 1940-1944, posing a significant challenge to European political norms. “France is a highly centralized state with presidential power more akin to an American president than its European counterparts,” the ECFR noted. Such a shift could send shockwaves across Europe given NR’s strong alliances with far-right movements in Hungary, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Le Pen has been vocal in her support for fellow nationalists, including backing Viktor Orban of Hungary and maintaining close ties with Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. A Verian survey conducted in early July found Le Pen at 37 percent, a 20-point lead over former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. An Elabe poll placed her at 35 percent, 18.5 points ahead of Philippe.
In Lyon, a young woman recently described how her city has become unsafe for French women due to escalating violence linked to immigrant communities. She recounted being stalked and threatened after refusing advances from migrants, leading her to carry self-defense tools and install additional security measures at home.
The incidents reported in France include:
– In 2022: A migrant harassed two girls on a tram; when a pregnant woman intervened, the migrant kicked her three times.
– In 2022: A French father was charged after a migrant sexually assaulted his six-year-old daughter.
– In 2022: An illegal alien murdered a 12-year-old girl and disposed of her body in a plastic box.
– In 2020: A Tunisian migrant slashed a woman’s throat in Nice.
– In 2019: An illegal alien detonated a bomb in Lyon.
– In 2016: A Tunisian migrant drove a truck into a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice.
– In 2016: Two Muslims murdered Catholic priest Jacques Hamel during Mass.
The ECFR also highlighted Le Pen’s proposed domestic policies, which would include stricter law enforcement measures on migration and crime, efforts to reverse green policies to boost industry, and prioritizing French citizens over foreigners for public services. With the second round of the presidential election scheduled for April 18 and May 2 next year, Le Pen’s growing support has raised concerns among European leaders about potential shifts in NATO and EU cooperation.
