The UDEF registers in Madrid an office of Le Pen and Salvini's former ultra group in the case for alleged misuse of European funds

The UDEF has registered this Wednesday a property in the Madrid district of Salamanca linked to the former European far-right group Identity and Democracy, the family that brought together in the last legislature formations such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally and Matteo Salvini's League.

The operation is part of an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office for the alleged misuse of European Parliament funds. The proceedings affect several countries, including Spain, France, Italy, and Belgium, and focus on the money received by Identity and Democracy for its operation between 2019 and 2024.

The amount under suspicion amounts to 4.33 million euros. According to the investigations known so far, part of these funds would have been allocated to donations to associations not directly related to the group's parliamentary activity and to contracts with companies affiliated with the parties integrated into that European structure.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office has confirmed that it is carrying out investigative measures on the use of community funds by a former political group of the European Parliament, although it has avoided giving more details so as not to prejudice the procedure. In Spain, the entry has been carried out by agents of the National Police's Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit.

Le Pen, Bardella and the judicial front of the European far-right

Identity and Democracy functioned as a parliamentary group in Brussels between 2019 and 2024. After the European elections, it was dissolved and a good part of its members relocated to Patriots for Europe, the group promoted by the European far-right and in which Vox also joined after leaving Giorgia Meloni's family.

The operation comes at a particularly delicate moment for Le Pen's circle. The leader of the National Rally was already convicted in France for embezzlement of European funds in another case concerning parliamentary assistants and is awaiting the appeal decision on her disqualification. That ruling could fully condition her political future before the next French presidential elections.

The president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, has reacted on social media assuring that the searches affect communication providers who worked with his party. He has also placed the judicial actions on the French electoral calendar and has defended that they have "nothing to reproach themselves for".

The investigation now points to the network of contracts and services of the former ultra group in the European Parliament. Among the names cited by French media are communication companies linked to historical collaborators of Le Pen's circle. The judicial process will determine the extent of political and economic responsibility for the use of these public funds.