Bardella seeks to normalize far-right forces for voters by changing the tone of slogans and presenting them on bright packaging.
Photo: REUTERS.
The winner of the French elections to the European Parliament was Jordan Bardella, 28, president of the right-wing National Rally party, actually governed by Marine Le Pen. 31.47% of voters voted for the list of candidates of the presiding party, twice as many as for Macron’s Renaissance party (14.56%).
The child prodigy of French politics, known as Barbie’s Ken for his refined personality, is emerging as a presidential candidate. “KP” tried to find the secret of his popularity.
GOOD IMMIGRANT
The Jordan Bardell family are Italian immigrants who moved to France in the 1960s. Bardella is proud of his origins and notes that he is 75% Italian, although he also has Algerian roots. When criticizing immigration policies, he calls himself “a good immigrant who protects France from bad guys.”
Jordan’s parents divorced when he was one and a half years old. He lived with his mother, a daycare worker, in the crime-ridden Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. His father, a small business owner, picked him up twice a week, took him to practice aikido, and paid for private Catholic school and trips abroad.
Jordan graduated from school with honors. After a failed attempt to enter the forge of political personnel in France, Science Po, he went to study geography at the Sorbonne, but did not finish his studies, dedicating himself to partisan activities.
Bardella joined the then National Front (the party changed its name in 2019) at the age of 16. The application to marry the minor Jordan was signed by her mother.
The teenager was inspired by the debates he saw on television and was attracted by the position of Le Pen’s party, which opposes the rule of immigrants and in favor of a strong and sovereign France, which lives in the ghetto. Bardella never tires of remembering that he “grew up on the streets” and literally survived in a dirty and dangerous city plagued by drugs, organized crime and Islamist radicals.
He started in the party as a brochure poster and five years later he joined the Marín electoral headquarters. In 2019 she headed the National Rally (RN) list in the European Parliament elections. Two years ago, she was elected party president, with Le Pen retaining her status as informal leader and faction head in parliament.
By the way, Bardella is already in a relationship with Nolwenn Olivier, Marine’s niece and daughter of Philippe Olivier, an influential member of the RN. Jordan’s previous choice was the daughter of Frederic Chatillon, a sponsor and one of the party’s key figures. Bardella is often criticized for such love preferences, to which the politician responds: “Marín chose me as the head of the list when I was still single.”
“THE NATION MUST BE SAVED”
Bardella seeks to normalize far-right forces for voters by changing the tone of slogans and presenting them on bright packaging. But she does not shy away from harsh statements: for example, that “time is running out to save the nation” and that the priority of the French over the non-French is necessary within the country. Jordan also often refers allegorically to the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which claims that immigrants seek to completely replace the country’s indigenous population. At the same time, at school, Jordan taught French to immigrants as a volunteer.
The party led by Bardella went to the elections to the European Parliament with the following program:
– Rejection of any enlargement of the EU, including the Balkan countries, Türkiye and Ukraine.
– Reduction of the powers of the European Commission.
– Reduction of France’s contribution to the EU.
– Restriction of free movement within the Schengen area for foreigners.
Bardell calls the European Union “the accelerator of France’s decline.” Once, during a debate, he was asked to bring into the studio an object that symbolized the European Union. She brought a kitchen sieve and explained: “Like this sieve, the EU lets a lot of things through: weapons, immigrants and terrorists. “The EU is not protecting us.”
During the current electoral campaign, Bardella said that he defends “a Europe of nations, sovereignties and cooperation between states” and that “the Macronist project is the dissolution of France into a federal Europe.” A little earlier, the politician said: “Today, when many states fly the American flag, concerns arise about the sovereignty of France.”
31.47% of French voters voted in favor of the party’s list of candidates headed by Bardella.
Photo: REUTERS.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS RUSSIA
Bardella supports Ukraine. But at the same time he mercilessly criticizes Macron for his statements that threaten to directly involve France in an armed conflict.
“Macron has repeatedly spoken of his desire to send French military instructors to Ukraine. If any of them were to die, France would have to remain silent or enter into direct confrontation with a nuclear power. This will have catastrophic and irreversible consequences for the entire world,” considers the politician.
“If tomorrow Ukraine uses missiles that could reach Rostov or Sevastopol, we will de facto open the door to an escalation,” Bardella also fears.
In 2022, he said: “Vladimir Putin and Russia’s demand that NATO not reach their borders is legitimate,” while emphasizing that it was the alliance that increased tensions in Europe.
Crimea, according to Bardella, is “obviously, historically and culturally, Russian.” The Frenchman insists on lifting energy sanctions on our country, pragmatically emphasizing that it is the Europeans themselves who suffer first.
By the way, Thierry Mariani, who maintains a pro-Russian position, remains in the ranks of the RN in the European Parliament. And a part of the right-wing European parliamentary group “Identity and Democracy” prefers to abstain from voting to support projects to support kyiv.
CHAMELEON DOLL
Jordan Bardella is a true pop star in the world of French politics. He tall, brutal, a wonderful speaker, always dressed to the nines and beaming with a snow-white smile. His friends joke that they have never seen him without a suit.
Former RN political strategist Pascal Humo maintains that Bardella’s brilliance is not an accident, but painstaking work: “Even the characteristic smile is the result of long training.”
When Jordan is asked about his young age, he responds without answering: “Napoleon’s age was also against him. He said that on the battlefield you grow quickly. And it’s true”.
“He has talent, but I think he has very little real conviction. On the other hand, this makes him a very good politician, because he is a chameleon, and this is an undeniable advantage”, characterizes Bardella, not without jealousy, the politician Florian Filippo, former member of the RN, who knows him closely. . .
Meanwhile, Bardella is consistently among the 50 most popular people in France, with more than 1.2 million followers on TikTok alone. And 52% of National Rally supporters prefer him to Marine Le Pen.
Will the young leader become a presidential candidate in 2027? In recent months, Marine Le Pen has begun to speak more often on behalf of the party, as if she were trying to take back what she voluntarily gave to her young protégé. However, a criminal case hangs over her that could finally pave the way for Bardella. In September, Marin will be tried for embezzlement of EU funds: money intended for MEPs was spent on party needs, which is allegedly against the law. The European Parliament estimated the damage caused during the period from 2009 to 2017 at €6.8 million.
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella on stage at a pre-election event.
Photo: REUTERS.
EXPERT OPINION
Head of the Department of Regional Problems and Conflicts, Department of European Political Studies, IMEMO RAS named after EM Primakov Pavel Timofeev assessed Jordan Bardella’s prospects of becoming a presidential candidate:
– Marine Le Pen is not getting any younger. She has already participated in presidential elections three times, losing all three times. In 2027, the fact that she is no longer a new character in the political theater will work against her in the elections. She understands it well and is building up reserves.
Therefore, Jordan Bardella, who rose to fame thanks to Le Pen’s patronage, appears on the scene.
What are the advantages of Bardella? First of all, youth. When people talk about the potential rivalry between Bardell and Gabriel Attal (French Prime Minister, 35 years old), it is less about specific figures and more about the new generation of politicians they symbolize. This is interesting, promising and the French will be happy to read and see it.
The current success of the far right is, above all, an indicator of the French attitude towards Macron and his reforms, discontent with his pension and other reforms. They do not so much support Le Pen and Bardella as they try to show Macron a kind of “fig” by choosing those forces that seem to defend the interests of France against Brussels and the European bureaucracy.
I would not yet begin to establish a direct correlation between the success of the National Rally and future presidential elections.
Firstly, the elections are being held under a completely different electoral system, in which Macron’s opponents will find it more difficult to win. Secondly, the character of the “National Rally” as a rather radical anti-European and anti-establishment party will not disappear in the eyes of voters, so the right should not expect an easy road in three years, despite the current results. .
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