European ambassadors from eight countries that border metropolitan France questioned Marine Le Pen about her plans for France and the EU over lunch on Wednesday, four officials with direct knowledge of the meeting told POLITICO.
The lunch took place at the Hôtel de Beauharnais, the residence of the German ambassador in Paris. The discussion mainly covered Le Pen's future EU agenda, according to officials.
Le Pen has pledged to downsize EU institutions, turn the European Commission into a secretariat without competence on foreign policy, internal security or health, and drastically cut France's contribution to the EU budget. She is leading the polls in the 2027 election race, according to the report.
The ambassadors came from Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco and Andorra. They had already met conservative candidate Bruno Retailleau in September, and plan to host other presidential hopefuls, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in the coming months.
An adviser who attended said: "I don't know if it reassured or worried them." The adviser added: "What is sure is that they can now report back to their capitals what the National Rally wants to do."
A diplomat from a participating country said there was "a general interest" in her stance on issues of mutual interest and cooperation with France.
Le Pen was also asked about U.S. President Donald Trump after his defeat in the midterm elections. The report says the National Rally has distanced itself from Trump. Jordan Bardella said the result did not affect his party and suggested Trump's popularity was undermined by the war in the Middle East and its economic consequences.
Le Pen has campaigned for stricter migration checks at borders. All the countries whose envoys attended, except Andorra and Monaco, are part of the Schengen free-movement area.
The report also says Le Pen's team announced she will meet the Ukrainian ambassador, Vadym Omelchenko, in Paris on Monday, Nov. 16.