Both bad and good news are coming from Europe. The bad news first-Right leaning parties have made significant gains in the European Parliament election, the results of which poured in on 9 June night. The good news is Europe has not yet been taken over by these groups with Fascist and Nazi mental make-up. The Centrist parties’ working majority could not be overturned, putting Ursula von der Leyen on track to stay President of the European Commission until 2029. The immediate fallout of the spectacular rise of the Far-Right parties is the French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement to hold a snap parliamentary poll even before the final official tally was out. His Centrist pro-European party Renaissance got just 15 per cent of votes and was crushed by the Far-Right National Rally, which secured over 30 per cent of French votes cast.
Macron is apparently so shaken by the turn of events that he declared to his people that he had “decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote.” Saying this he dissolved the National Assembly. The move is of course a huge gamble for Macron. He seems to be desperate to regain control of the country with no imminent threat to his position as he was reelected President in 2022 defeating National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen. French voters will now exercise their franchise again 30 June and 7 July.
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In Paris, jubilant Le Pen hailed Macron’s announcement. She did not waste time to tell the nation in her usual flamboyant style that she and her party are ready to “transform the country, defend the interests of the French and stop mass migration.” The last pledge leaves no one in doubt about her Far-Right intent. She is expected to contest the 2027 French presidential polls again, though 28-year-old member of the European Parliament Jordan Bardella now presides over the National Rally.
On the other hand, the mood in Germany is so much against the established parties that its Far-Right party – Alternative for Germany (AfD) – will have 15 European Parliament Members. The AfD was plagued by several scandals, yet it could brush them off to emerge as the second biggest force in Germany behind von der Leyen’s Christian Democrats. Only last month, its lead candidate, Maximilian Krah, faced the allegation of spreading Russian influence, while his parliamentary aide was accused of conducting espionage for China.
The Centrist forces led by von der Leyen are ahead of all rivals. According to provisional projections from all 27 EU countries, her Centre-Right European People’s Party (EPP) has won 184 of the 720 seats. In second place came the slightly weakened Centre-Left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, with 139 lawmakers, followed by the drastically reduced liberal Renew group, with 80 seats.
After the picture became clear, the 65-year-old von der Leyen iterated her resolve to “build a bastion against the extremes from the Left and from the Right.” This is not only political rhetoric, but also a loaded message to the Centre-Left and liberal outfits that she will need to work with them to continue to push her agenda forward.
Europe is indeed on the crossroads.
The credibility of the established parties to deliver on their promises to help the people tide over the cost of living crisis has alarmingly eroded. Such a situation was tailor-made for the rise of the Nazis and Fascists before World War II. History is dangerously on the verge of being repeated. Whether the sharply divided Far-Right can form a broad coalition to build on its gains will be keenly watched in the weeks to come.
