France's Macron Dissolves National Assembly, Calls for Snap Elections After Crushing EU Election Defeat

Sebastien Nogier, Pool via AP

After his party suffered a crushing defeat in elections for the European Parliament, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he was dissolving the National Assembly and calling for snap legislative elections. He released a somber statement on social media: 

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Google's translation: 

I dissolved the National Assembly this evening. A serious, heavy decision, but above all an act of trust in you, my dear compatriots.

In the speech, he 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.

His party was decimated by projected election results:

His decision, announced in a television broadcast to the nation, was a measure of the devastating nature of the European Parliament election result, which gave the National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen and her wildly popular protégé, Jordan Bardella, about 31.5 percent of the vote, to about 15.2 percent for Mr. Macron’s Renaissance party. It became the leading party in France by some distance.

This could cause governmental chaos, even as the Olympics are set to start in Paris in July. The call for elections highlights the transforming politics in Europe as opinions are increasingly against the left. Macron is, not surprisingly unhappy, with that:

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“The rise of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for our nation and for Europe,” Mr. Macron said. “After this day I cannot go on as though nothing has happened.”

The French leader has always been a passionate supporter of the 27-nation European Union, seeing in it the sole means for Europe to count in the world and calling on it to achieve “strategic autonomy” through ever greater integration. But the political winds have turned in favor of less Europe, not more.

Richard Grenell, who served as Acting Director of National Intelligence under former President Trump, sees it as a rejection of progressive politics:

Europe is changing before our eyes, as many EU countries struggle with mass immigration, economic problems, and other issues. The results of these snap elections may very well portend the future of the continent.


Plus d'histoires [Editor's Note: Related stories]:

French President Macron Becomes Latest to Parrot Calls for Israeli 'Ceasefire' in Gaza

My Night in Riot-Stricken Paris

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