Le Pen’s French presidential bid dashes EU hopes for a Meloni-like successor – POLITICO

Marine Le Pen is running for French president again — ending cautious optimism among some in Brussels that she might cede her place to a younger and potentially more amenable successor.

While lawmakers, officials and analysts said a victory by either Le Pen or Jordan Bardella would have profound consequences for the EU, several privately and publicly described the 30-year-old National Rally leader as the more pragmatic and less ideological of the two far-right figures, raising hopes he would be easier to work with in Brussels.

Le Pen announced on live TV Tuesday evening that she would make a fourth bid for the French presidency, despite being sentenced to one year of house arrest with an ankle monitor earlier that day.