French identity, liberalism and "Christian anthropology" are the flagships. Socialism, "wokism" and immigration are the declared adversaries. The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and right-wing Les Républicains (LR) parties are the identified partners. For the past year, conservative billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin, a tax exile in Belgium, has been advancing his pawns in the French political world with a project under the umbrella of an association, created on July 7, 2023, called Pericles. In its July 19 issue, communist newspaper L'Humanité revealed the contents of an internal document from Stérin's teams, setting out the objectives of his political and metapolitical venture aimed at waging the battle of ideas.
This confidential document, dating from fall 2023 and also obtained by the Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche, envisions the investment of €150 million over 10 years to "enable the ideological, electoral and political victory" of the far right. This is the culmination of a process begun several years ago by the Catholic entrepreneur, who dreams of facilitating the accession to power of identitarian and Islamophobic ideas, championed by the far right, combined with the liberal and conservative agenda of the right.
The 20-odd-page document also shows the progress of the association with the RN. Party leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are judged to be the two figures over whom the Pericles team already has "real influence." François Durvye, Stérin's number two and head of his investment fund Otium Capital, is one of Le Pen's most trusted advisors. According to information obtained by Le Monde, he was also one of the three main writers of Bardella's policy platform for the legislative elections on June 30 and July 7.
The document also describes concrete help given to the RN in preparation for the 2026 municipal elections. It states that, with the RN's aim of winning 300 cities in these elections, a consultancy plan has been "approved by the party leadership and the EM [management] at the Estivales 2023," referring to the RN's annual summer gathering. One team per department was to identify target cities and candidates, led by Gilles Pennelle, who was RN director general when the document was drafted and has since resigned. "This initial adviser mission makes the RN neither exclusive nor a priority vs other parties," it reads. Le Pen and the RN did not respond when asked about this point and the nature of their relationship with the Pericles team. Arnaud Rérolle, founder of the foundation, did not respond to our requests for comments.
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