French President Emmanuel Macron has called a snap election and dissolved parliament in response to a stinging European vote defeat by the far-right National Rally.
It comes after his party suffered a significant setback in the EU elections, in which citizens of the European Union elect representatives from their own nations to serve as members of the European Parliament (MEP).
The stunning move came after Macron's firmly pro-EU Renaissance party, formerly known as La France En Marche! (France on the Move), suffered defeat to the far-right National Rally (RN) in the European parliamentary elections, putting him even further on the back foot domestically.
The anti-immigration, euroskeptic RN, of which Marine Le Pen was president for ten years before turning over the reins to current leader Jordan Bardella in 2022, received more than 30% of the vote, compared to Renaissance's 15%.
Following the results on Sunday night, the French president stated that "the extreme right is both the impoverishment of the French and the downgrading of our country. "So, at the end of this day, I cannot act as if nothing had happened," he said.
His declaration of elections for a new National Assembly on 30 June, with a second round on 7 July, has generated considerable concern, including within his own party.
"I am confident in the capacity of the French people to make the right choice for themselves and for future generations," Macron wrote on X on Monday.
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