French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly on Sunday and called snap elections after the far-right National Rally (RN) party was inflicted a heavy defeat in European elections, Macron said in a broadcast speech.
The far-right party National Rally (RN) received 32% of the votes in the EU elections. Following the result, Macron noted: “The first round of the legislative elections will be held on June 30, and the second round on July 7.”
Describing the RN voter surge, Macron said: “This is not a good result for the parties that defend Europe, including the presidential majority.”
The French president also criticized far-right parties for hindering progress in Europe by opposing initiatives, including “economic revival, common protection of our borders, support for farmers and support for Ukraine.”
For Macron, the “rise in nationalists and demagogues is dangerous,” he said referring to France and wider Europe. “Those parties advance everywhere on the continent. In France, their representative reached almost 40% of the votes cast,” he added.
National Rally leader Jordan Bardella emerged as the front-runner, while Renaissance party’s Valerie Hayer, backed by Macron’s administration, came in second with 15.2% of the votes, according to polling data from “Elabe.”
The far-right party called on Macron to dissolve the parliament, with Bardella describing the preliminary results as an “unprecedented defeat for the current government.”
Center-left Socialist Party led by Raphael Glucksmann is currently projected to secure the third position with 14% of the vote, followed by the left-wing party La France Insoumise led by Manon Aubry at 9.3%.
By the 5 p.m. deadline, the voter turnout in France stood at approximately 45.26%, slightly higher than in 2019. The country’s electorate, comprising around 50 million voters, was tasked with electing 81 representatives to the EU Parliament.