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The French president has said he will dissolve parliament and call a snap election after his party suffered a crushing defeat in elections for the European Parliament as surging far-right parties dealt blows across the bloc.
Addressing the nation from the Elysee presidential palace on Sunday, Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the National Assembly and called for legislative elections to be held on 20 June and 7 July.
In a hugely politically risky move, he said: “I’ve decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly.”
Voting to elect the European Union’s regional lawmakers for the next five-year term ended at 9pm GMT after the last remaining polls closed in Italy.
It marked the conclusion of a marathon election spanning four days across 27 bloc member countries involving some 450 million people. With official results expected any moment, initial projections provided by the European Union indicate the rise of the far right was even more astonishing than many analysts predicted.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen delivers her speech at the party election night headquarters on Sunday (AP)
First projected results from the French opinion poll institutes put the far-right National Rally party well ahead in France, defeating Mr Macron’s pro-European centrists, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen welcoming the call for new parliamentary elections.
“We’re ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to mass immigration,” Ms Le Pen said on Sunday, echoing the rallying cry of so many far-right leaders in other countries who were celebrating substantial wins.
Led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, the National Rally won around 32 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s vote, more than double Macron Renaissance party, which reached 15 per cent, according to the first exit polls.
Mr Bardella told supporters: “Emmanuel Macron is a weakened president tonight. The unprecedented gap between the presidential majority and the leading opposition party tonight reflects a stinging disavowal and rejection of the president and his government.”
Jordan Bardella, president of the French far-right National Rally, is seen at the party election night headquarters on Sunday (AP)
Far-right parties also dealt a stunning defeat to another of the European Union’s most important leaders, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Mr Scholz suffered such an ignominious fate, falling to 14 per cent, that his long-established Social Democratic party fell behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which surged into second place.
Projections indicated that the AfD overcame a string of scandals involving its top candidate to rise to 16.5 per cent, up from 11 per cent in 2019. In comparison, the combined result for the three parties in the German governing coalition barely topped 30 per cent. The centre-right Christian Democratic bloc of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen dominated, with almost 30 per cent.
Overall, across the EU, two mainstream and pro-European groups, the Christian Democrats and the Socialists, remained the dominant forces. The gains of the far right came at the expense of the Greens, who were expected to lose about 20 seats and fall back to sixth position in the legislature. Macron’s pro-business Renew group also lost big.
Germany, traditionally a stronghold for environmentalists, exemplified the humbling of the Greens, who were predicted to fall from 20 per cent to 12 per cent. With further l