Analysts say the judgment barring Marine Le Pen from running for public office plunges France into more political uncertainty.

The sentence looks primed to set off a firestorm on the far right, both in France and across Europe. A visibly stunned Marine Le Pen hurried through swaths of reporters as she stormed out of the Paris courthouse at midday and reportedly stammered “unbelievable” before making her way to party headquarters in west Paris.

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for political office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds, in a politically explosive ruling that has shattered her hopes of winning France’s 2027 presidential election.