Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party shot to first place with a third of the votes, according to results published by the French Ministry of the Interior. An alliance of left-wing parties made a strong showing and came in second, while French President Emmanuel Macron’s party lagged far behind in third place.
The RN has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the party even having proposed a ‘alliance’ with Russia in the past. However, recently RN has made efforts to refresh its image, dropping its promise to withdraw from NATO and supporting Ukraine.
The second round of French elections will take place on Sunday, July 7, and the far right then has a chance to form a government for the first time since the pro-Nazi Vichy regime of the 1940s. If RN again emerges as the largest party, the now 28-year-old charismatic party leader Jordan Bardella will become the youngest French prime minister ever.
This would mark the first time that eurosceptic and anti-immigrant extreme right comes to power democratically in a country proud to be the birthplace of human rights. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned of a “great danger” for Europe.
In the UK, Labour leader and likely next prime minister Keir Starmer said the results in France were a sign that politicians need to focus on addressing people’s needs.
In British polls, Conservative Prime Minister Sunak is facing a historically large defeat, making a power change imminent. Also, the far-right Nigel Farage with his Reform Party could gain many votes on Thursday, July 4.
Earlier this year in the Netherlands, far-right extremist and Islamophobe Geert Wilders managed after elections to form a right-wing majority coalition of four parties in parliament. That coalition will be sworn in Tuesday in The Hague by the Dutch king. Wilders’ coalition is supported by two new political movements of angry farmers and dissatisfied citizens and the right-liberal party of former Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The new Dutch cabinet is led by the new non-partisan Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who until recently was director of the national intelligence service.