Marine Le Pen tells Muslims planning to leave France: it's your country

Marine Le Pen has declared that French Jovenlandeses who are considering leaving France if she comes to power are mistaken, because "it is their country" and "they are French". The statement breaks with her party's usual framing and comes in the middle of the French presidential pre-campaign.

The leader of the National Rally (**RN**), **Marine Le Pen**, posted a message on the social network X addressed to French Jovenlandeses who, she said, are considering leaving the country if she wins the election. Her text was blunt: "French Jovenlandeses who are thinking of leaving if I am elected are wrong: it is their country, they are French". She added a comparison with **La France Insoumise** (**LFI**): "We are not like LFI: we respect all French people".

## What the message actually says

The statement has two parts. The first explicitly acknowledges the French nationality of people of Muslim faith, something the RN has avoided formulating in those terms for years. The second turns that phrase into a weapon against the left: it accuses LFI of not respecting all French people. It is a double-edged move, because it claims inclusion while pointing at a rival for alleged exclusion.

The message mentions no figures or specific groups. It cites no association, mosque or institution. It only refers to "French Jovenlandeses" who "are thinking of leaving", a category it neither defines nor quantifies.

## The French electoral context

France has presidential elections scheduled for **2027**. Le Pen was the RN's candidate in **2012**, **2017** and **2022**, and has announced her intention to run again. In the **2024** legislative elections, the RN was the most-voted force in the first round, although it finished third in seats after the left-and-centre cordon sanitaire.

The RN's relationship with France's Muslim community — estimated at around **5 million people**, although France has no official religious census — has been marked by proposals such as banning the veil in public spaces or restricting immigration. Le Pen's statement does not change the programme, but it does change the tone.

## Why this statement matters

The gesture seeks to normalise the party's image among a moderate electorate. By saying that French Jovenlandeses "are French", Le Pen positions herself on the ground of republican integration rather than exclusion. It is an exercise in ideological blurring that she already attempted in 2022 with softened proposals on the veil.

It remains to be seen whether that rhetoric translates into concrete measures or coexists with the restrictive policies the RN maintains in its programme. For now, it is a post on X. Nothing more, and nothing less.