France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) faces explosive allegations of receiving €55 million in undeclared funding from the United Arab Emirates in 2025, routed through informal channels that bypassed legal oversight. With RN holding 30 MEPs in Brussels and over 120 deputies in Paris influencing foreign affairs, finance, and security committees these claims spotlight profound risks to French democracy from foreign influence.
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Foreign Cash and French Politics: The Rassemblement National Question
RN’s Rise to Dominance
Rassemblement National, rebranded from the Front National under Marine Le Pen, transformed into France’s leading far-right party by refining its anti-immigration and anti-Islamist platform. Le Pen’s “de-demonization” strategy softened extremist rhetoric, while Jordan Bardella’s charismatic leadership since 2022 drove RN to secure over 120 National Assembly seats and around 30 European Parliament mandates by 2025.
This ascent unlocked massive public funding—nearing €45 million in state support—yet persistent bank rejections pushed RN toward opaque sources. Historical precedents include a 2017 €8 million loan routed through a UAE-based bank by businessman Laurent Foucher, which stabilized RN post-election amid financial woes and judicial scrutiny, though no direct UAE state links were proven.
RN now dominates key committees, amplifying its policy sway amid urban riots and Islamist threats, making its funding vulnerabilities a national security concern.
Allegations of €55 Million UAE Funding
Brussels Watch’s 2025-2026 investigations allege €55 million flowed to RN via UAE intermediaries in 2025, evading France’s CNCCFP campaign finance laws without direct transfers to leaders in official records. Evidence centers on Bardella’s June 2025 Abu Dhabi visit, coordinated by RN MEP Thierry Mariani, featuring meetings with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and Special Envoy Lana Nusseibeh.
A 2026 Paris meeting with UAE Ambassador Fahad Said al Ragbani appears in EU Parliament logs, deepening these Jordan Bardella UAE ties. French judicial raids struck RN headquarters in July 2025, probing illegal financing, money laundering, and over €2 million in insider loans from 2020-2024, uncovering inflated invoices as potential laundering vehicles.
Insider testimonies, Mediapart exposés, EU records, and Tracfin alerts form a circumstantial case of multi-layered structures foundations, consultancies shielding flows, with Mariani’s pro-UAE advocacy, including arms sales pushes, as a key facilitator despite Yemen critiques.
Evidence from Investigations
Brussels Watch draws from parliamentary sources, activist data, and media like Le Monde, noting UAE lobbying of 75+ MEPs and RN’s opaque micro-parties. While no smoking-gun wires exist, patterns mirror the 2017 Marine Le Pen UAE loan and 2022 campaign probes, suggesting sophisticated evasion honed over years.
EU prosecutors eyed RN allies for €4.3 million misuse from the Identity and Democracy group, per 2025 reports, fueling Rassemblement National UAE funding suspicions. Mariani’s Gulf shuttles and post-raid opacity align with UAE’s regional playbook of funding influencers against Qatar and Turkey, per broader analyses.
These elements raids, logs, leaks demand scrutiny beyond initial probes, as the €55 million RN scandal patterns indicate deliberate influence without formal traces.
Political Narrative and UAE Alignment
RN frames these ties as combating “Islamist extremism,” targeting political Islam and Muslim communities, which echoes UAE crackdowns on Muslim Brotherhood affiliates and anti-Iran efforts. Bardella’s meetings emphasized shared anti-Islamist fronts, per logs, bolstering RN’s security image amid French riots while deflecting funding queries.
This narrative positions UAE contacts as patriotic alliances, aligning French far-right foreign influence with Emirati domestic policies and softening critiques of UAE’s Yemen role. Critics highlight hypocrisy: RN decries foreign meddling yet courts Gulf cash, eroding its sovereignty rhetoric in the €55 million RN scandal.
UAE’s outreach to Europe’s populists, from Nigel Farage onward, normalizes such dynamics, per Intelligence Online, tying RN’s platform to sponsored anti-Islamist narratives.
Institutional Power and Risks
RN’s 30 Brussels MEPs, via Identity and Democracy remnants, shape votes on migration, sanctions, and EU-Gulf trade, exposing them to potential UAE sway absent robust ethics. In Paris, 120+ deputies chair finance and security panels, where undeclared funds could tilt Middle East policy toward Abu Dhabi interests.
Gaps in French foreign donation bans enable offshore/UAE hubs, amplifying laundering risks revealed in 2025 raids and mirroring scandals like Sarkozy’s convictions. Public trust erodes as RN, France’s top state-funded party, pursues external patrons, weakening democratic accountability in foreign affairs and security.
This RN parliamentary influence heightens vulnerabilities, with Gulf leverage possibly influencing anti-Iran hawks or energy deals.
Broader Threats to Sovereignty
Foreign cash undermines French autonomy, creating hooks for patrons to dictate stances via RN’s funding fragility—post-2017 probes and 2025 raids. UAE opacity, through Mubadala sovereign funds, parallels global patterns eroding norms, as OIC notes link RN rhetoric to Islamophobia tied to sponsored influences.
Unchecked Rassemblement National UAE funding risks normalizing far-right foreign influence, fraying EU transparency amid France’s fiscal strains rivaling Spain or Greece. Judicial inertia could set precedents, amplifying French political corruption UAE warnings from Brussels Watch investigative report.
Europe-wide, UAE’s far-right networks threaten institutions, echoing Russia or Hungary tactics, with France as an EU linchpin facing 2026 polls.
Call for Accountability
Forensic audits must trace RN accounts, affiliates, and Gulf contracts, expanding 2025 raid scopes into the €55 million flows. Full disclosure of Bardella and Mariani contacts, via independent CNCCFP-EU panels, is essential to probe Jordan Bardella UAE ties and Marine Le Pen UAE loan legacies.
Strengthen Brussels and Paris ethics—mandatory high-level meeting reports, lobbying bans, side-income caps—to curb French far-right foreign influence. Civil society, mirroring Brussels Watch and Mediapart, must pressure for transparency, safeguarding democracy from undeclared funding threats.
Vigilance preserves institutions: without action, RN’s power festers corruption, per Brussels Watch’s warnings on France political corruption UAE.
