Lawfare is alive and well in Europe as the leftist-dominated European Union acted to ensure that another right-wing threat to its woke oligarchy was cut down well before an election.

The story in France is similar to what has recently happened in Romania, but with even bigger ramifications. The EU, fearing the rise of right-wing political figures, is seemingly pulling out all the stops in its efforts to “preserve democracy.”

In this case, the popular right-wing leader being taken out is France’s Marine Le Pen, the head of the National Rally party. The party has steadily gained popularity over the years, largely thanks to her leadership.

Indeed, Le Pen was leading in the polls and was favored to win the French presidential election in 2027, especially since current President Emmanuel Macron is forbidden by law to run for a third consecutive term.

So, with right-wing candidates on the rise across Europe, primarily due to the EU’s mass migration social suicide, leftist leaders are desperately seeking to fend off the threat. As noted above, they appear to have succeeded in Romania, with the leading right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu’s initial election victory annulled and the nation’s deep state banning him from running over dubious accusations of Russian election interference. Can’t trust the populace to vote to elect the “right” people.

That same scenario is effectively playing out in France. When it comes to the EU, Romania is one thing, but if France were to come under the rule of a right-wing populist like Le Pen, it could spell disaster for the EU oligarchy. France is one of the EU Triumvirate, or Big Three, along with Germany and Italy. These were the EU’s three largest original founding nations.

The French version of this “protect democracy” fiasco actually originates with the EU. Le Pen, as a member of the EU Parliament, was accused and found guilty of embezzlement by a French court.

So, what exactly was Le Pen’s crime? She was accused of misusing some $4.8 million in EU funding to pay her National Rally party staff. Evidently, this is a common practice within the halls of the EU. However, if one is on the political left and promoting leftist causes, it’s not seen as a problem.

Le Pen has been sentenced to four years in prison, fined $106,000, and — the most significant punishment — banned from running for political office for the next five years.

Whew — democracy has been saved!

That’s certainly how the Leftmedia is reporting it. The Associated Press — the only media outfit permitted in the courtroom — observed that French Le Pen detractors celebrated the verdict.

“We were here in this square to celebrate the death of her father,” said Jean Dupont, 45, a schoolteacher. “And this is now the death of Le Pen’s presidential ambitions.”

And:

Sophie Martin, 34, a graphic designer, was among those in a celebratory mood. “I had to check the date — I thought it was April Fool’s Day,” she said. “But it’s not. She’s finally been knocked down. We’ve lived with her poison in our politics for too long.”

But even the AP noted the obvious and uncomfortable truth: This is not how a genuinely democratic system is supposed to work.

Even from the far left, where Le Pen has long been a detested figure, the response was more measured than might have been expected. France Unbowed, the radical left party often at ideological war with Le Pen’s movement, acknowledged the gravity of the charges but warned against using the courts to decide political outcomes.

You don’t say.

The fact of the matter is that this is precisely how the leftist establishment envisions controlling society. Indeed, this is effectively the lawfare strategy that Democrats unleashed on Donald Trump. They wanted to defeat him politically, so they concocted legal charges against him in as many cases as possible. They don’t trust the democratic process because they don’t trust the American voter. Therefore, they are willing to turn to ever more illiberal and unjust means of stifling political dissent.

All the EU has done is prove JD Vance’s warnings and criticism to be spot on. The Western ideals of individual liberty are failing fast in Europe. And the eventual blowback to this encroaching authoritarianism will likely not be pretty.