French hard-left union CGT condemned EDF CEO Bernard Fontana for meeting far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Sarah Knafo. The union said officially receiving representatives of far-right parties could not be treated as a neutral act. Le Pen leads opinion polls ahead of next year’s presidential election after years of seeking to distance her party from its racist image and expand its appeal. EDF did not immediately comment. French blue-chip companies had generally avoided contact with Le Pen’s National Rally, or RN, but some are engaging more closely with the party as polls suggest it could win the election and as businesses seek to understand and influence its populist economic agenda. Le Pen strengthened ties with business leaders in April by hosting an informal dinner for off-the-record discussions. The CGT statement came one day after RN second-in-command Jordan Bardella said he had filed a defamation lawsuit against Mediapart over allegations that he made antisemitic remarks in private messages more than a decade ago. Bardella described the report as an attempt to destabilize election campaigning.