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EU prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations that Jordan Bardella, the leader of the French far-right Rassemblement National party, misused European Parliament funds to pay for media training ahead of national elections.
The investigation stems from a complaint filed in December by an activist group, the organization AC!! Anti-Corruption, which accused Bardella, who is the leading candidate in next year's French presidential election, of misusing EU funds.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office, which can bring defendants to court in cases involving EU funds, declined to comment on the ongoing investigations and neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the case.
The investigation was first reported by AFP.
Bardella and his political mentor, Marine Le Pen, are leading in opinion polls ahead of next year's presidential election. He has vowed to replace Le Pen if an appeals court in July upholds her ban on running for office. She was previously convicted of misusing EU funds for domestic campaigning while she was an MEP.
Polls show the Republic is on track to win at least 30 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential race to advance to the runoff, regardless of which of the two candidates is running. The race is crucial for France and Europe because President Emmanuel Macron cannot run again at the end of his second and final term in office.
The activist group accused Bardella of using EU parliament funds for media training in 2022 to prepare for that year's presidential race, in which Le Pen ran against Macron. Under EU rules, MEPs can only use such funds for activities related to their parliamentary work, not for internal political campaigns.
In a statement to X, Bardella said he would cooperate with EU prosecutors and provide them with any material they requested.
" We have absolutely nothing to reproach ourselves for ," he said. He dismissed the accusations as politically motivated.
His party said: “We are not fooled by the political instrumentalization of the justice system.”
RN added that the media training was conducted by an external service provider in accordance with the rules of the EU Parliament and its bodies. The training was on European issues and several MEPs from RN participated, she said.
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