EU funds

Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage faced legal and political challenges this week, with Le Pen convicted of embezzling EU funds and ordered to wear an ankle tag, while Farage resigned as an MP amid scrutiny of his financial arrangements and a friendship with a criminal. Both figures pivoted to election campaigns, adopting a strategy similar to Donald Trump's approach of denying wrongdoing and framing themselves as underdogs against a corrupt establishment.

A French appeal court upheld Marine Le Pen's conviction for misusing EU funds but reduced her public office ban, potentially allowing her to run in the 2027 presidential election. She is referred to as the far-right leader in the article.

Marine Le Pen will appear on French primetime television on July 7 following a court of appeal ruling that found her guilty of systemising the embezzlement of EU funds within her party. She has stated she would not run with an electronic tag on but may reconsider.

A French appeal court upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but reduced her public office ban, potentially allowing her to run in the 2027 presidential election. She was sentenced to three years in jail, with two years suspended and one requiring an electronic ankle tag, complicating her campaign.

Hungary is set to pass anti-graft legislation aimed at EU funds. The new measures will expand the legal powers of the Integrity Authority, the country's anti-graft watchdog.

Hungary's government has submitted an anti-graft bill to unlock EU funds. The move was a top campaign pledge for Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who defeated Viktor Orbán in the April elections.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a deal to potentially unlock over €16 billion in EU funds for Hungary. Magyar's new government must now fulfill the agreement's conditions to access the funds.

Magyar is advocating for a breakthrough to secure frozen EU funds. US tech group IBM has increased its lobbying efforts.