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IN THE FEATURES
Dear readers of L’Expresso,
Marine Le Pen is certainly at stake for her political future during the trial of the “parliamentary assistants” affair. She hopes to launch a fourth time in the presidential race in 2027 but the courts could decide otherwise.
The magistrates suspect the far-right party of having, “in a concerted and deliberate manner”set up between 2004 and 2016 a “diversion system” envelopes allocated by the European Union (EU) to each MEP to pay their parliamentary assistants.
The latter would in reality have worked entirely or partially for the party, allowing it substantial salary savings, at a time when the RN was cruelly lacking in liquidity. The European Parliament, which became a civil party in the case, estimated its damage at 6.8 million euros.
The affair broke out in March 2015, when the president of the European Parliament at the time, the German social democrat Martin Schulz, reported a possible embezzlement of funds to the French authorities.
Among the defendants are the mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot, the former number 2 of the movement Bruno Gollnisch, the deputy Julien Odoul and the MEP Nicolas Bay.
“Marine le Pen is not guilty of anything, it is once again a diversionary maneuver to try to sully the National Rally, our voters know that well”MEP Julien Sanchez emphasized again on September 26 on France Info.
The long weeks of hearings that lie ahead will nevertheless be painful for the far-right party, even though the 143 deputies of the RN and their allies hold in their hands the fate of the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier, which they are capable of bringing down at any time.
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CAPITALS
VIENNA
The far-right FPÖ party secures first place in the Austrian elections. The Freedom Party (FPÖ), Austria’s far-right party, came first in the national elections on Sunday September 29 with 29% of the vote, ahead of Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). A first in the history of the country. By Nicoletta Ionta.
ROME | BERLIN
The Italian and German presidents send a strong message to the far right. Italian President Sergio Mattarella and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who closed a three-day meeting with a ceremony commemorating a Nazi-fascist massacre, sent a strong message to the far right. By Alessia Peretti.
BERLIN
The German CDU party is putting pressure on Brussels to finance fences on the Greek and Polish borders. Germany’s center-right CDU party has urged the European Commission, chaired by CDU member Ursula von der Leyen, to fund fences on the borders of Greece and Poland, as new German border controls increase pressure on countries of first entry. By Nick Alipour.
WARSAW
Polish President Andrzej Duda sued for remarks on film about asylum seekers. The Observatory of Racist and to enter Poland since mid-2021. By Aleksandra Krzysztoszek.
NEWS FROM EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS
Israel-Palestine: a new international coalition calls for a two-state solution. A new international coalition aimed at finding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has gained ground, despite Israel’s absence from the discussions. By Alexandra Brzozowski.
Meta fined 91 million euros for storing passwords. In a press release, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Meta €91 million for “inadvertently” storing user passwords without cryptographic protection or encryption, effectively closing a five-year-old affair. By Eliza Gkritsi.
Discord threatens member states’ discussions on EU funding. While EU industry has largely endorsed former European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi’s diagnosis of the continent’s economic problems, it remains deeply divided on how to finance the needs investment plan of the Union. By Thomas Moller-Nielsen.
[Éditions par Sarah N’tsia & traductions par Marine Béguin]
