Macron is confident that the French are not ready to vote the National Alliance into power in France, writes ‘s France reporter Annastiina Heikkilä.
Annastiina HeikkiläFrench journalist
In France, the far-right National Alliance won a historic election victory. Jordan Bardella led by the party got 32 percent of the votes, and the party is getting 31 seats in the European Parliament.
President Emmanuel Macron the center-right coalition got about 15 percent of the votes, which means 14 seats in the EU Parliament. The result is historically bad for the president’s party.
Pro-European Macron had put all his prestige at stake in the European elections, which eventually led to a referendum against Macron’s policies.
After the result, Macron gave a speech in which he announced that he would dissolve the French parliament. The first round of early parliamentary elections will be held on June 30 and the second round on June 7.
– I have heard your message and I will not fail to respond to it, Macron said.
Macron is confident that the French are not ready to vote the National Alliance into power in France. The party has won the European elections in the past, albeit much more narrowly than now, but the far-right’s success in national elections has not been as great.
The victory of the far right tarnishes Macron’s legacy
However, the national coalition is now in a better position than at any other time in French history. Party chairman Jordan Bardella is one of France’s most popular politicians and is vying for the position of prime minister.
– We are ready for power, said the chairman of the parliamentary group of the National Alliance Marine Le Pen on Sunday night.
In any case, the end of President Macron’s term will be very difficult. The far-right’s victory tarnishes his political legacy as a pro-EU reformer and further weakens Macron’s position – both in France and in Europe.
The atmosphere in France was mixed on Sunday evening, as the parties from the right and the left pondered what kind of cooperation they would be ready for in the new parliament.
With the new elections, France threatens to drift into a political deadlock, which Europe could not afford in the tense world situation.