In the ambient chaos, a French political voice managed to emerge abroad: that of Kylian Mbappé, striker for the France team and new Real Madrid player. By asking French youth to mobilize “against the extremes”, the footballer seems to have clarified the issues of the anticipated legislative elections for the international press, sometimes lost in the French free-for-all.
“Mbappé enters the campaign”, headlines the cover of the Spanish sports daily Marca, who notes that “the message of his star against the far right has eclipsed the entry of the Blues into the Euro”.
For the rest, the foreign media can only note “the Waterloo of French politics”, as nicknames it the magazine International Politik Quarterly. Between Eric Ciotti entrenched at the Republican headquarters after his solo agreement with the RN, the purge of La France insoumise at the time of the investitures and the return of François Hollande, “French politics sinks into a completely crazy reality TV”, explains Politico from Brussels. The dissolution of the National Assembly has caused what Emmanuel Macron hoped for, maintains the information site: “a political class which is torn apart by rivalries and betrayals before the elections of June 30 and July 7”.
“An atmosphere of the end of the reign hangs over France”
“Emmanuel Macron threw a grenade at the feet of the hard right, and he blew up French politics, summary The Daily Telegraph in England. The French right imploded, while the left formed an improbable and precarious alliance.” The conservative newspaper does not, however, minimize the danger for the future of the country. “Macron’s gamble has provoked a battle for the soul of France , which could see the far right take power for the first time since the Second World War”, underlines the British daily.
In London, The Guardian bids by describing “a political comedy that would almost make Donald Trump and Boris Johnson look like competent politicians”. According to the British daily, a week of campaigning was enough to cause the French parties to explode into internal wars, “where everyone treats everyone else as a liar and a traitor”. “As soon as the nationalists are brought into the light, they quickly show that they have no idea who empties the trash cans or how water comes out of the tap,” continues the left-wing newspaper. But the case of Donald Trump proved it: voters often don’t care, and they vote for them anyway.”
As written El Pais, in Spain, “an atmosphere of the end of the reign hangs over France”. But at the G7 summit in Italy, the French president tried last week to convince his Western counterparts of the usefulness of his domestic political maneuver. “Everyone said it was courageous,” assured Emmanuel Macron in front of the cameras, without necessarily convincing. “Courage or political suicide, the French will say it on July 7,” retorts The Daily Telegraph.