French voters headed to the polls for the second round of municipal elections, with tight races in both Paris and Marseille that could redraw the political map of the country’s two largest cities. Der Spiegel reported that significant change was possible in multiple major municipalities.
The elections took on added significance against the backdrop of a New York Times investigation into Pierre-Édouard Stérin, a billionaire tech entrepreneur who has been bankrolling France’s far-right movement from his base in Belgium, where he relocated his family in 2012. The story highlights the growing role of wealthy donors in shaping European populist politics — a trend with echoes across the Atlantic.
