French President Emmanuel Macron calls snap election after right-wing victories in EU elections
The rise of the far right in EU elections over the weekend prompted President Emmanuel Macron to call the snap election, despite his term not being set to end until 2027
French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the National Assembly and called new parliamentary elections after a defeat in a European vote.
In an address to the nation from the Elysee presidential palace, Mr Macron said: “I’ve decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly.”
The vote will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, he said.
Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, nationalist party was estimated to get around 31%-32% of the votes, a historic result more than double the share of Mr Macron’s Renaissance party, which was projected to reach around 15%.
Ms Le Pen, who heads the National Rally group at the National Assembly, “welcomed” Macron’s move.
’We’re ready for it,” Ms Le Pen said. She was the runner-up to Mr Macron in the last two presidential elections. “We’re ready to exercise power if the French people place their trust in us in these future legislative elections.
Mr Macron himself wasn’t a candidate in the EU elections and his term as president still runs for three more years.
He said the decision was “serious” but showed his “confidence in our democracy, in letting the sovereign people have their say.”
“In the next few days, I’ll be saying what I think is the right direction for the nation. I’ve heard your message, your concerns, and I won’t leave them unanswered,” he said.
Jordan Bardella, the National Rally's lead candidate for the EU elections, has campaigned for limiting free movement of migrants and scaling back EU climate rules.
“Tonight, our compatriots have expressed a desire for change,” he said. “Emmanuel Macron is tonight a weakened president.“
In response to the surprise announcement, far-left politician Francois Ruffin called on all leaders from the left to unite under a single "Popular Front" banner.
He wrote on X: "To avoid the worse, to win."
ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston said: "This is remarkable. President Macron is taking the huge political risk of dissolving the French Parliament and calling a general election because he wishes to challenge the rise of the “far right” Rassemblement National, and settle the debate about his country’s political future.
"It is quite literally the opposite of what is happening in the UK, where it is Farage who chose to take the fight to Sunak rather than vice versa."
The move comes as first projected results from France on Sunday put the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union’s parliamentary election, defeating Macron’s pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.
Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, nationalist party is estimated to get around 31-32% of the vote, more than twice the score of President Macron’s pro-European centrist party that is projected to reach around 15%.
France is electing 81 members of the European Parliament which has 720 seats in total.
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