A hard-right 28-year-old could soon be France’s prime minister
Jordan Bardella is poised, social-media savvy and enigmatic
A DECADE AGO Jordan Bardella was a mere teenager, spending hours after school firing at enemy combatants on “Call of Duty” video games. Today the 28-year-old leader of the hard-right National Rally may be weeks away from becoming prime minister of France, and its youngest ever by a long way. After a two-round legislative election on June 30th and July 7th, his party could win enough seats to form a government. The ascent of Marine Le Pen’s young protégé from obscurity to the cusp of high office is one of the more improbable in modern French politics.
Europe June 22nd 2024
- Emmanuel Macron faces heavy losses after a short campaign
- A hard-right 28-year-old could soon be France’s prime minister
- Hard-right parties are entering government across Europe
- Russia’s latest crime in Mariupol: stealing property
- Why southern Europeans will soon be the longest-lived people in the world
- Europe today is a case of lots of presidents yet nobody leading
From the June 22nd 2024 edition
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Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge
Once dominant, Germany is now desperate
As an election looms its business model is breaking down