A crucial verdict is set to decide Marine Le Pen's future in the French presidential race after a court found her guilty of misusing European Union funds. The 2026 presidential campaign had already been on high alert, with Le Pen facing a tough battle against rivals.

Le Pen, who is the leader of the far-right party Rassemblement National, had been accused of using EU funds during her 2017 presidential campaign to pay for the production of videos and other campaign materials. A French court last week found that Le Pen had misused around 300,000 euros, which she had used to pay a British video production company, Sequoia Productions, to make campaign videos.