PARIS (AP) 鈥� French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said she will run for president next year despite her saying she’ll campaign as a 鈥渄uo鈥� with , the 30-year-old president of her National Rally party.
A Paris appeals court ruled Tuesday that Le Pen, 57, oversaw years of misuse by her National Rally party of by paying staff with money intended for European Union parliamentary assistants. The court ruled the party embezzled 2.8 million euros ($3.2 million) over more than 11 years.
But it scaled back the penalties handed down by the lower court, clearing the way for Le Pen to run for president.
She also said that, if elected, she would appoint Bardella as her prime minister.
Here’s a look at key milestones in the careers of Le Pen and Bardella, and the transformation of the National Rally party into one of France’s major political forces:
1968:
Marine Le Pen is born on Aug. 5 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris, the youngest of three daughters of , who would later lead the far-right National Front party.
1972:
Jean-Marie Le Pen , building it around anti-immigration and nationalist policies. In the next decades, he repeatedly denies the and is convicted multiple times of antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence.
1995:
Bardella is born on Sept. 13 in Drancy, northeast of Paris in mainland France鈥檚 poorest region. He grew up in public housing, the son of Italian and Algerian heritage.
2002:
Jean-Marie Le Pen shocks France by reaching the presidential runoff, losing to Jacques Chirac in a landslide. The result marks the far right鈥檚 emergence as a key political force.
2011:
Marine Le Pen succeeds her father as president of the National Front, launching a long-term effort to broaden the party鈥檚 appeal and distance it from its extremist image. She will expel her father from the party four years later after renewed controversial remarks.
2012:
Marine Le Pen makes her first bid for the presidency, finishing third in the first round with nearly 18% of the vote. Bardella, then 17, joins the National Front.
2017:
Marine Le Pen reaches the presidential runoff for the first time but , who gets 66.1% of the votes, compared to her 33.9%. Bardella is one of the party鈥檚 spokespersons, becoming a familiar face on television.
2018:
The National Front , part of Le Pen鈥檚 effort to make the party more acceptable to mainstream voters.
2019:
Bardella, now 23, leads the National Rally鈥檚 list in European Parliament elections. The party finishes first in France and he is elected MEP. He also becomes one of the party鈥檚 vice presidents.
2022:
Le Pen reaches the presidential runoff for a second consecutive time, winning more than 41% of the vote against Macron 鈥� for France鈥檚 far right in that election. Bardella becomes president of the National Rally.
2024:
The National Rally party emerges as in Parliament’s powerful National Assembly, but falls short of an outright majority.
2025:
On March 30, and other National Rally officials of misusing European Parliament funds, sentences her to prison and bars her from seeking public office for five years with immediate effect. She appeals.
2026:
Le Pen announces she’ll run for president after a July 7 ruling by the Paris appeals court that found her guilty of embezzlement but left her eligible. She says she will , a process that suspends the sentence that she for a year.
2027:
The presidential election is scheduled on April 18 and May 2 to choose who will succeed Macron, who can’t seek a third consecutive term. France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, said it should be able to rule before that.
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