Key facts
- The U.S. State Department will exclude French applicants from a grant program.
- Paris had warned the program could amount to "foreign interference" in the French presidential election.
- The program aims to advance the U.S. administration’s political agenda in Europe.
- A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Paris confirmed French groups would not receive funding.
- The U.S. administration has framed EU hate speech laws as curtailing free speech.
The U.S. State Department has decided to exclude French applicants from a grant program intended to support MAGA-aligned groups in Europe, following concerns raised by France about potential interference in its upcoming presidential election. Paris had previously warned that the program could amount to "foreign interference in [European] electoral processes."
The grant program, advertised in the summer, is designed to advance the U.S. administration’s political agenda in Europe and counter what it describes as democratic backsliding, including what it views as "overbroad and vague hate-speech laws." A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Paris confirmed that French groups would not be eligible for funding.
The U.S. administration, particularly Vice President JD Vance, has been critical of the European Union's hate speech laws and election safety measures, characterizing them as restrictions on free speech. The U.S. has also expressed support for like-minded "patriotic European parties." A spokesperson for the State Department clarified that the program "does not and will not fund political parties, in Europe or elsewhere," and that grant allocations were still under consideration. Nicolas Conquer, founder of the MAGA-aligned think tank Western Arc, has applied for the funding but has not yet received a formal response.