Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s Rassemblement National (RN) and the favourite to succeed Emmanuel Macron as president, has given an interview to a most surprising source. Last week he spoke to Germany’s centrist newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, a matter of weeks after he said he would fight to contain Germany’s excessive influence within the European Union.

And yet Bardella’s tone in the interview is extremely conciliatory, where he claims that “Franco-German relations form the foundation of Europe.” He describes the many areas he could work on with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, including “reducing bureaucracy”, building a “competitive Europe” immigration, and “waging a political battle against the Green deal”. This German offensive is part of a much wider mellowing of the RN. The party has dropped any hints of a “Frexit”, knowing that such a proposal would scare off voters, not to mention the French business elites Bardella has been courting so assiduously in recent years.

The detoxification process has been underway since Marine Le Pen became leader. She replaced her father, Jean-Marie, after his explicit antisemitism sullied the party’s brand. Step two was the institutionalisation of the RN, as it grew from a single-digit number of seats during Macron’s first term to 143 in 2024. And while Le Pen’s MPs have toppled several Macronist governments, they have also proved to be flexible parliamentary actors, supporting bills and motions from the Left and centre while avoiding agitprop-style politics.

Since then, Bardella’s mission has been the watering down of his party’s platform as it nears real political power. Even immigration was deemed the party’s “third emergency” in a 2024 campaign that prioritised talking about the cost of living. Once a proponent of setting France’s retirement age back to 60, Bardella is now prepared to be vague on the issue in order to upset as few constituencies as possible.

What is left to annoy the centrist establishment? A pledge to leave Nato’s integrated command structure, which France left under Charles de Gaulle and only rejoined in 2009. Another option is committing to a referendum that would establish national preferential treatment for French citizens regarding welfare benefits. This would most likely trigger a fight with the EU, but it’s still a far cry from Frexit or abandoning the euro.

Even in its international political associations, the RN is evolving, shedding ties with other nationalist leaders. Bardella is critical of Donald Trump, attacking European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen for signing an economic deal with the US, which he describes as an “act of subjugation”. He has also vowed to stand by France’s “commitments on Nato’s eastern flank” against potential aggression from Vladimir Putin.

On the matter of Franco-German relations, Bardella draws a clear line with the hard-Right AfD, labelling the party’s positions “incompatible with our principles”. Germany’s political elites, meanwhile, are scrambling to figure out how to work with a hypothetical nationalist Right-wing French government. Merz declared last month that any French president would be his “friend, whatever his name is”. The German Embassy has confirmed a meeting with Bardella earlier this year, the first time German diplomats officially met with RN representatives. As such, Germany’s desire to limit the disruption of a Bardella presidency suits the RN leader’s wish for domestic respectability.

With Marine Le Pen still unable to run for the presidential office because of her embezzlement case — the final ruling will be given on 7 July — expect Bardella to continue his charm offensive on the continent. As he does this, Europe’s political establishments will be somewhat obliged to engage in return.

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François Valentin is a political analyst and co-host of the Uncommon Decency podcast.

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