European elections: AfD MPs throw Maximilian Krach out of delegation

France is in shock: no one expects new elections within three weeks, even right-wing populists who continue to call for the dissolution of the National Assembly after each election. President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly stressed that he does not want any national consequences from the European elections.

But now Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) right-wing populists have won the election by a landslide. Macron triggered a political earthquake when he announced that the French would go back to the polls at the end of June.

Macron wants to show that “things are under control,” writes “Le Monde” newspaper. He believes voters’ old RN defense reflexes and other established parties will still work in the two-round parliamentary election. He may also have in mind the example of Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has secured the survival of his leftist government through new elections in 2023.

But the stakes are too high for Macron, many experts agree. “There is a bleak scenario: the RN could seize the Prime Minister’s office this summer and capture the Elysée in 2027,” sums up “Le Monde”.

Macron took office in 2017 promising to remove voters’ reasons for voting for right-wing populists. However, seven years later, they achieved the best finish in their history. “I can’t pretend that nothing happened,” Macron said, unusually calm on election night.

As he wrote on the X online service the next morning, he remained confident that French voters would make “the best choice for themselves and for future generations.” (AFP)