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

Brussels insiders had quietly come to see Jordan Bardella as the less disruptive of the far-right National Rally's two leading figures.

By NICHOLAS VINOCUR and MAX GRIERAin Brussels

Illustration by Natália Delgado/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.