Germany initiates diplomatic contact with France’s National Rally ahead of presidential election

Germany has begun exploring avenues for cooperation with the right-wing French party National Rally (RN) in the event of an RN victory in the upcoming French presidential election scheduled for next April.

As reported by German Foreign Policy, RN President Jordan Bardella met with Germany’s Ambassador to France in February.

This marks the first time an RN politician has held such a meeting.

In an interview with a prominent German newspaper last week, Bardella announced that following an electoral victory, he plans to cooperate closely with the German government in every possible area, such as refugee control, and praised Germany’s border controls.

Bardella, who is currently leading in presidential election polls, enjoys the backing of far-right billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s media empire and receives economic counsel from Pierre-Édouard Stérin, a close associate of the billionaire.

The RN leadership is currently holding discussions with prominent French business figures, including the heads of Airbus, TotalEnergies, and Renault, as well as Bernard Arnault, the chairman of luxury goods giant LVMH and the wealthiest person outside the United States.

However, Bardella intends to challenge German dominance within the EU.

RN begins securing billionaire support

Polls for the April 2027 presidential election have shown for some time that Bardella, the likely candidate for the RN, would win the first round by a clear margin with more than a third of the vote, and is highly likely to secure victory in the second round.

Nonetheless, doubts persist regarding this outcome should he face Édouard Philippe—who served as President Emmanuel Macron’s first prime minister between 2017 and 2020—in the second round.

In the upcoming election campaign, Bardella is relying on the media empire of billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

Bolloré has used the profits from his conglomerate, Groupe Bolloré, to acquire various newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV channels, steering media outlets such as the popular TV channel CNews and the long-established Journal du dimanche toward his own right-wing politics.

Bardella also has the support of billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin, who owes his wealth in part to the investment fund Otium Capital.

François Durvye, the former CEO of the fund, stepped down from his position in April to advise Bardella on economic matters with a view to the presidential election.

This situation provides the prospective RN candidate with a significant advantage and private connections.

The RN’s opening to neoliberalism: “The party that best represents my interests as a CEO!”

Bardella and long-time RN leader Marine Le Pen have met repeatedly with leading representatives of the French business community in recent months.

Éric Trappier, the CEO of fighter jet manufacturer Dassault Aviation, had already met with Le Pen and Bardella in May 2024.

This was followed by a meeting with the chairman of the technology and defense group Safran in December 2025, and another meeting with the CEO of Airbus Group, Guillaume Faury, in January 2026.

In April, Le Pen met for the first time with an exclusive group of top executives, including the heads of TotalEnergies, Renault, Engie, Accor, and Bolloré, as well as Bernard Arnault, the head of the luxury goods group LVMH.

With a fortune of approximately $150 billion, Arnault is currently the eleventh-richest person in the world and the wealthiest non-American.

On April 20, Bardella was received by the executive board of the employers’ organization MEDEF and other representatives of French business associations.

In this context, an anonymous billionaire stated that Macron had failed in economic policy, whereas the RN had “become neoliberal,” adding: “Today, as a CEO, the party that best represents my interests is the RN!”

Bardella seeks tax cuts and deregulation for corporates: Potential for clash with Germany

Following two meetings with the leadership of MEDEF and some of the country’s most powerful CEOs, Bardella outlined the core objectives of his economic policy in an interview with the Journal du dimanche.

Accordingly, an RN government would significantly reduce taxes and all forms of regulation for French companies.

On the other hand, Bardella intends to make his first foreign trip as president to Brussels. In his view, the EU—through initiatives such as the Green Deal—is the source of an excessive regulatory framework that threatens to suffocate French companies, and is therefore responsible for the crisis in the French economy.

Furthermore, he believes that the EU, “specifically to serve Germany’s interests,” has reduced France to “a variable in trade policy.”

According to Bardella, a prospective RN government would represent French interests in Brussels with the aim of “reclaiming competitive advantages” that other states have long enjoyed.

Within this framework, Bardella announces his intention to create a “different Europe”: a Europe built on “intergovernmental cooperation” and “national sovereignty.”

This directly contradicts the traditional interests of German industry, which has maintained its hegemony in Europe to this day and favors the closest possible integration within the EU.

German state contacts with the RN underway

Bardella has since taken the first steps to coordinate the policies of a potential RN government with Germany.

As recently revealed, Bardella met with Germany’s Ambassador to France, Stephan Steinlein, in February.

As experts have confirmed, this was the first meeting to take place between a German ambassador and a representative of the RN or its predecessor, the National Front (FN) party.

Nothing is yet known about the content of the meeting. The German Embassy in Paris did not provide further details.

Speaking to Le Monde, an anonymous member of the German government stated that what Germany perceives is “the RN’s transformation into an established party,” noting: “The RN is less radical than the AfD and does not constantly reference National Socialism.”

In December, Bardella was also received by the US Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner.

In April, Israel’s Ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, received Marine Le Pen.

Advice on independence from the US for Germany: Rafale instead of F-35

Last week, in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Bardella also outlined his views on future Franco-German relations.

According to the interview, he views the close ties between the two countries as “indispensable to secure the independence and strategic autonomy of European nations.”

Bardella stated that he sees common ground with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on “reducing bureaucracy,” the “need to build a competitive Europe,” and “migration policy,” and praised Germany’s border controls.

On migration policy, at least, he argues that “national law must… prevail over European law.”

Conversely, Bardella is calling for the resignation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who he claims is “completely incapable of defending Europe’s interests.”

He announces that after the end of the war in Ukraine, he plans to pull France “out of NATO’s integrated command structures,” just as Charles de Gaulle once did.

At the same time, he supports Franco-German defense projects but insists that, in return, Germany must also purchase French weapons, such as “Rafale fighter jets instead of American F-35s.”

The Rafale is manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The company’s CEO, Éric Trappier, has maintained loose ties with the RN for years.

Reaction to the RN from AfD leader

Following Bardella’s remarks, Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), reacted.

Objecting to the RN leader’s praise of Merz’s stance on migration, the AfD leader said, “Bardella must first become president.”

“Rather than throwing himself into the arms of Friedrich Merz, [Bardella] should focus on that,” Chrupalla continued in a statement to the television channel Welt TV.

Chrupalla was also asked about the criticism directed at the AfD by the RN and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I think it is problematic for other parties abroad to interfere in our country,” Chrupalla said, adding that the RN and Meloni suffer from a “lack of information.”

The AfD was expelled last year from the European Parliament’s far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group, of which the RN is also a member, after an AfD lawmaker made remarks downplaying the crimes of Nazi Germany’s SS.