CIVICUS discusses recent changes in the French political landscape with Valentin Stel, Co-Director of SOS Racisme, a civil society organisation that has been working for 40 years to improve public policy and tackle racism, antisemitism and racial discrimination in France.
On 31 March, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, was convicted of embezzling European public funds, along with several others from her party. She was declared ineligible to stand in the 2027 presidential election. Le Pen immediately appealed against the decision. In response to this verdict and to support the rule of law, a broad coalition of civil society organisations, including trade unions, held rallies on 12 April in Paris and several other French cities.
