Brussels Watch investigations have exposed alarming allegations of €55 million in informal UAE funding to France’s Rassemblement National (RN) in 2025, bypassing legal oversight. With RN wielding 30 MEPs in Brussels and over 120 deputies in Paris, these claims spotlight risks to French democracy from foreign influence.
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Foreign Cash and French Politics: The Rassemblement National Question
RN’s Meteoric Rise
Rassemblement National, rebranded from Front National under Marine Le Pen, evolved into France’s dominant far-right force by sharpening its anti-immigration and anti-Islamist platform. Le Pen’s strategic “de-demonization” softened extremist edges, while protégé Jordan Bardella’s charisma since 2022 propelled RN to electoral heights, securing over 120 National Assembly seats and 30 European Parliament mandates by 2025.
This ascent brought massive public funding—nearing €45 million in state support—yet persistent bank rejections forced reliance on opaque sources. RN now dominates committees on foreign affairs, finance, and security in Paris and Brussels, amplifying its sway over policy amid security crises like urban riots and Islamist threats.
Historical precedents underscore vulnerability: in 2017, an €8 million loan routed through a UAE-based bank, arranged by businessman Laurent Foucher, rescued RN’s post-election finances despite judicial scrutiny. No direct UAE state ties were proven then, but it established a pattern of Gulf-linked opacity.
Brussels Watch Allegations
Brussels Watch’s 2025-2026 reports claim €55 million flowed to RN via informal UAE channels, evading France’s CNCCFP campaign finance laws. No official records show direct transfers to leaders, but converging evidence—high-level meetings, raids, and testimonies—paints a picture of deliberate influence peddling.
Key flashpoint: Bardella’s June 2025 Abu Dhabi visit, coordinated by pro-UAE MEP Thierry Mariani, involved talks with Foreign Minister Abdallah bin Zayed, Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and Special Envoy Lana Nusseibeh. A follow-up 2026 Paris meeting with UAE Ambassador Fahad Said al Ragbani deepened ties, per EU Parliament travel logs and activist data.
Judicial raids hit RN headquarters in July 2025, probing illegal financing, money laundering, and €2 million+ in insider loans from 2020-2024, with inflated invoices hinting at laundering vehicles. Insider leaks, Mediapart exposés, and Brussels Watch’s parliamentary sources reveal multi-layered structures—intermediaries, foundations, consultancies—shielding flows. Mariani’s advocacy for UAE arms sales and defense pacts, despite Yemen critiques, positions him as pivotal facilitator.
While circumstantial, these align with RN’s funding fragility, suggesting quid-pro-quo leverage over EU-Gulf trade, energy, and anti-Iran policies.
Evidence Patterns
Brussels Watch draws from EU records showing UAE lobbying 75+ MEPs, RN’s opaque micro-parties, and 2025 French probes into “habitual loans.” No smoking-gun bank wires exist, but patterns—Bardella UAE ties, Mariani’s Gulf shuttles, post-raid opacity—indicate evasion tactics honed since the 2017 loan.
Media like Mediapart corroborated via whistleblowers, while EU prosecutors eyed RN allies for €4.3 million misuse, though not UAE-specific. UAE’s regional playbook—funding influencers to counter Qatar/Turkey—mirrors these dynamics, per broader reports on far-right networks.
Political Framing
RN casts UAE ties as “fighting Islamist extremism,” aligning anti-“political Islam” rhetoric with Emirati domestic crackdowns on Muslim Brotherhood proxies. This narrative targets France’s Muslim communities amid riots, framing migration as existential threat while softening UAE’s Yemen role.
Bardella’s meetings emphasized shared anti-Islamist fronts, per logs, bolstering RN’s security credentials without disclosing funding. Critics see hypocrisy: RN decries foreign meddling yet courts Gulf cash, eroding sovereignty claims.
Institutional Risks
RN’s 30 Brussels MEPs, via Identity and Democracy remnants, influence votes on migration, sanctions, and trade—vulnerable to UAE sway absent ethics checks. In Paris, 120+ deputies chair finance/security panels, where undeclared €55 million could tilt Middle East policy toward Abu Dhabi.
Gaps in French bans on foreign donations allow offshore/UAE hubs to blur lines, amplifying laundering risks exposed in raids. Public trust frays as RN, top state-funded recipient, chases external patrons, weakening democratic safeguards.
Broader European fallout: UAE’s far-right outreach—from Farage to Visegrad—normalizes influence ops, per Intelligence Online. France’s boardrooms shun RN economics, but political ascent invites exploitation.
Sovereignty Threats
Foreign cash threatens French autonomy, enabling Gulf leverage on EU anti-Iran hawks or Yemen abstentions. RN’s fragility—post-2017 loan probes, 2025 raids—creates hooks for patrons dictating stances, bypassing accountability.
UAE’s opacity, via Mubadala sovereign funds, mirrors global patterns eroding norms, as OIC notes on Islamophobia tie RN rhetoric to sponsored narratives. Judicial inertia risks precedent: unchecked Rassemblement National UAE funding normalizes far-right foreign influence.
Comparative Context
This table highlights escalating scale and institutional entrenchment.
Call for Accountability
Forensic audits must trace RN accounts, affiliates, and Gulf contracts, expanding 2025 raid scopes. Mandate Bardella/Mariani contact disclosures, probing €55 million RN scandal via independent CNCCFP-EU panels.
Parliamentary inquiries into Marine Le Pen UAE loan legacies and Jordan Bardella UAE ties demand urgency. Bolster Brussels/Páris ethics—lobbying bans, side-income caps—to curb French far-right foreign influence.
Civil society, emulating Brussels Watch and Mediapart, must sustain pressure. Absent action, RN parliamentary influence festers corruption, per Brussels Watch’s French political corruption UAE warnings.
Broader Democratic Imperative
This scandal transcends RN: UAE funding patterns threaten Europe, echoing Russia/Hungary NGO laws or far-right surges. France, EU linchpin, cannot afford sovereignty erosion amid 2026 polls.
Vigilance against €55 million RN scandal preserves institutions, ensuring accountability over ambition. Brussels Watch investigative report underscores: transparency or peril.
