- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has announced her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election, following an appeals court decision to reduce her ban from public office.
- The reduced ban means Le Pen may be required to campaign while wearing an electronic ankle tag, a condition arising from her previous five-year electoral ban for misusing European Parliament funds to pay staff for her National Rally (RN) party.
- Le Pen, who has failed in three previous presidential bids, is proceeding with her campaign despite her conviction, as her National Rally party currently leads opinion polls for the upcoming election.
- The EU parliament's lawyer noted a “significant sentence reduction” by the appeals court, though a decision on whether to appeal the ruling to France's highest court is still pending.
- Rival parties have criticised Le Pen's decision to run, with the Greens leader stating she should not stand for election after being convicted of misappropriating public funds, and her party also received a two million euro fine, with half suspended.
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