Marine Le Pen and her far-right National Rally party have won a landslide victory in France’s snap elections, sparking backlash from rival parties at home and politicians abroad.
The National Rally party won about 34% of the vote in the first round of parliamentary elections, a major victory – but not one that would give the party an absolute majority in parliament.
Le Pen, who trails the left-wing New Popular Front coalition with about 29 percent and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance with about 20.5 percent, called on French citizens to vote for her party in the second round.
Despite his defeat, Macron welcomed the high turnout of 65.8 percent and reiterated his call to stand up to the far right in the second round.
The president stressed in an official statement that “before the national assembly, the time has come for a great, clear democratic and republican union for the second round.”
Centre-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the president had suffered a “severe and indisputable defeat” and was responsible for the shock decision to dissolve parliament, but stopping the far right was the priority.
“There will not be one more Republican vote, there will not be one more Republican seat,” he said.
“Chaos and failure”
The National Front’s breakthrough was warmly welcomed by the far right in European politics.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed “optimism” after the first round result.
Orban’s comments came as Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union amid widespread concerns about what critics see as an authoritarian, Russia-friendly government in the country.
“Things cannot go on like this in Brussels, things have to change. That’s why the Belgian prime minister fell, that’s why the French government fell,” Orban said in an interview with Hungarian television channel M1 on Monday evening.
“Our first source of optimism is that people want change. But the bureaucrats in Brussels think otherwise, they don’t want change. But that increases our optimism because it makes the fact that change is necessary more obvious,” he said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a far-right politician, claimed that attempts to “demonize” far-right voters had failed.
“The constant attempt to demonize and detain people who do not vote for the left… is a trick that fewer and fewer people fall for,” Meloni told the Adnkronos news agency.
In the UK, opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said Labour’s advance in France was proof that the left must prove that “only progressives have the answers” to problems in the UK and across Europe. The UK general election is due to be held on Thursday.
“We have to make this progressive decision. But in making that decision we have to understand why, after 14 years of chaos and failure in the UK, people are unhappy with politics, and put politics back in service, and continue to make the case that politics is a force for good.”
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli said he was “impressed” by Le Pen’s positions, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also appeared to be “of the same opinion.”
Chikli told Kan public radio on Monday that it would be “excellent for Israel” if Le Pen became president in France — the next election for the top job is in 2027 — given her “firm” stance against Hamas, the International Criminal Court and anti-Semitism. Most Jewish leaders in France itself are against Le Pen and the National Front.
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued a warning about the far right.
“They love Putin, money and power without control. They are already in power or seeking to gain power in Eastern or Western Europe,” he wrote in an online post.
“They are joining the ranks of the European Parliament. In Poland, we managed to turn back this deadly tide at the last moment. Let’s not waste this opportunity,” he added.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government appeared to respect an informal ban on commenting on foreign elections.
But Michael Roth, a member of Schulz’s Social Democrats, blamed the party for not supporting Macron better.
“We do not pay enough attention to political discussions and problems of other countries,” he added, noting that the alternative to Macron “is no longer really there.” [former French President Nicolas] “I am not a Sarkozy supporter but a far-right nationalist like Marine Le Pen.”
Spain’s Socialist leader, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, also saw the far-right’s victory in France as a warning.
“The advance of the far right in France is not separate from what is happening in other parts of the world – including Spain – where we see how the far right is advancing directly or indirectly at the institutional level and in opinion polls,” he said in an interview with Cadena Ser radio network.
Meanwhile, French and European markets received Monday’s election results positively.
French stocks and the euro rose, with the CAC 40, which represents 40 of Paris’s biggest listed companies, up 2.7 percent at the open before cooling slightly.
The euro, which took a hit after Macron’s surprise announcement on the back of European Parliament elections in early June, hit its strongest level against the US dollar in more than two weeks.
European stocks also rose, with the pan-European STOXX 600 recovering from last week’s losses, driven in part by support from the CAC 40.
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