Following the far-right National Rally's crushing loss in the European referendum, President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament, sending France's political establishment reeling to get ready for early elections. The two-round vote, which begins on June 30, may have "the most serious consequences" in French history, according to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
The conservative opposition handily defeated German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in Sunday's European elections, but he has ruled out calling early elections. Markus Söder, the conservative CSU premier of Bavaria, said that Mr. Scholz's administration was almost done and that it was time to emulate France. Although new elections in Germany aren't expected until 2025, Mr. Söder said that the "country needs a new start".
The president of the National Assembly and Macron friend Yaël Braun-Pivet said that a government deal existed as an option to fresh elections, but "the president decided that path wasn't open to him". In order to enact laws, the administration needs the backing of other parties since it lacks a majority in parliament. Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, expressed her annoyance that the vote was held three weeks before the city hosts the Olympics. Less than 15% of voters supported Mr. Macron's Renew party on Sunday, while more than 31% supported Marine Le Pen and youth leader Jordan Bardella's anti-immigration National Rally (RN).
All sides of politics were taken aback by the announcement that fresh elections would be held, after rumors of a hurried meeting between senior Reconquête officials and Marion Maréchal of the opposing far-right Reconquête party. Calls were made for the sharply split French left to unite around socialist Raphaël Glucksmann, who received over 14% of the vote in the European elections.
In the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane on Monday, President Macron joined German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to commemorate the 80th anniversary of one of the worst atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War Two: the killing of 643 inhabitants by SS forces in 1944. "Let us never forget the miracle of reconciliation that the European Union has worked," said President Steinmeier, emphasizing that it was appropriate for Europeans to never forget the harm caused by nationalism and hatred on the day after European elections.
In spite of a slew of controversies surrounding the party's front-runners, Alternative for Germany (AfD) finished second in Sunday's European vote, surpassing all three parties in Mr. Scholz's coalition ministry. The party's freshly elected MEPs decided to exclude leading contender Maximilian Krah from serving on their European Parliament delegation after an investigation into his possible ties to China and Russia.
Meanwhile, this week's G7 gathering in the Italian area of Puglia is where President Macron is scheduled to meet Olaf Scholz and Giorgia Meloni of Italy. The three leaders will probably talk about whether to back Ursula von der Leyen's campaign for a second term as head of the European Commission in addition to the results of Sunday's vote in Europe. The incumbent head of the Commission should not be given a second mandate, the Italian leader said on Italian radio on Monday. The European People's Party, led by Ms. von der Leyen, is the largest political party in the next European Parliament.
Among the victors on the center-right was Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, who for the first time in ten years led his Civic Coalition party to a close victory against the right-wing-populist PiS party. One of the few European leaders who have a greater mandate after these elections is Mr. Tusk.
Grzegorz Braun, one of the successful candidates of the far-right Polish Confederation party, which received 12% of the vote, caused a stir worldwide in December when he used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the candles on a menorah that was placed in the Polish parliament in honor of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Petr Pavel, the president of the Czech Republic, said that Europe "needs to take notice of these voices" and look into why support for far-right, conservative, and nationalist groups was rising.
The opposition ANO party, led by former prime minister Andrej Babis, won the Czech vote and seven of the twenty-one seats up for grabs in the European Parliament.
However, it was also a successful night for three little anti-system parties, one of which is a brand-new group called Motorists. They are fighting against the EU's Green Deal policies for sustainability and climate change. The contentious former racer Filip Turek, who was recently exposed for past social media postings showing his love for Nazi gestures and memorabilia, will be one of the MotoristS MEPs.
Unexpectedly, the far-right did badly in Finland and Sweden. With just 7.6% of the vote, the Finns Party, which had been polling third, lost ground to the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who received 13.2% of the vote.
Another unexpected outcome occurred in Denmark, when the Green-Left party SF, which received more than 17% of the vote, upset the Social Democrats headed by Mette Frederiksen. Recuperated from a physical attack in Copenhagen on Friday night, Ms. Frederiksen described the outcome as "really miserable".
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