Highlighters

• French President Emmanuel Macron suffers a severe defeat, prompting the dissolution of the National Parliament.

• Germany’s far-right party ‘Alternative for Germany’ overcomes scandals to increase its vote percentage.

• Ursula von der Leyen’s ‘Christian Democrats’ adopt a more right-wing stance on migration and climate issues.

• Macron acknowledges the public’s mandate and expresses a commitment to address their concerns.

thenewscaffee.com

Brussels, June 10 (Agency) EU elections: French President Macron’s crushing defeat In the EU (European Union) elections, the far-right parties got a big victory, while French President Macron suffered a crushing defeat. In the EU elections, the far-right parties caused heavy damage to the ruling governments of many countries and achieved great success in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday. Not only this, French President Emmanuel Macron also had to face a crushing defeat in the elections.

In the European Union, which has a total of 27 member countries, the key to power seemed to be slipping into the hands of right-wing parties and the seats of Italy’s Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s party doubled in the European Union Parliament. Germany’s far-right party ‘Alternative for Germany’ may have faced a scandal related to its candidates, but the party gathered enough seats to defeat the country’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “Social Democrats” party.

Sensing the danger of defeat from far-right parties, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s party ‘Christian Democrats’ had adopted a more right-wing stance on the issue of migration and climate even before the elections, due to which her party proved successful in remaining the largest party in the 720-seat European Parliament. There is no doubt that Marine Le Pen’s ‘National Rally’ party dominated the parliamentary elections held on Sunday night in France, due to which Macron immediately dissolved the National Parliament and announced mid-term elections. This is a big political risk for Macron, as his party may have to suffer more losses. Accepting this challenge, Le Pen said that we are ready to change the country, ready to protect the interests of France, ready to end the problem of large-scale migration.

Macron accepted defeat

Accepting his crushing defeat, Macron said that I accept your mandate, I am aware of your concerns and I will not leave without resolving them. He said that announcing sudden elections only underlines his democratic credentials. In Germany, the most populous country among the 27 member countries of the European Union, many top candidates of the ‘Alternative for Germany’ were involved in scandals, but despite this the party’s vote percentage increased. The party had secured 11 percent votes in 2019, which increased to 16.5 percent. At the same time, the combined vote percentage of the three parties in Germany’s ruling coalition was barely above 30 percent. This four-day election in 27 countries of the European Union is considered the second largest democratic election in the world after India.