French foreign minister Stephane Sejourne said Europe has experienced a “lightning bolt” after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won the European elections in France and far-right parties made significant gains across the continent.
In Germany, Alternative for Deutschland came second, with 16 per cent of the vote despite a scandal in which their lead candidate, Maximilian Krah, was forced to stop campaigning after he claimed that members of the Waffen SS were not “automatically” criminals.
In France, the NR, formerly known as the National Front, took nearly a third of votes, while in Italy, Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy recieved more than a quarter.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne was speaking after President Macron called a snap parliamentary election following defeat to Marine le Pen.
The NR took 32 per cent of the vote on Sunday, compared to around 15 per cent won by Macron's party, and 14 per cent for the Socialist Party.
Addressing the nation following the results, Macron declared: “This is an essential time for clarification. I have heard your message, your concerns, and I will not leave them unanswered…
"France needs a clear majority to act in serenity and harmony.”
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio station the election would be the most significant in the nation’s history.
“This will be the most consequential parliamentary election for France and for the French in the history of the Fifth Republic,” he said.
“We must fight for France and for the French. We have three weeks to campaign and convince the French.”
The RN’s European campaign was led by Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old le Pen protege who rose from humble origins in the banlieu to the political stage.
Speaking after votes were cast, he said: “This result is emphatic. Our countrymen have expressed a desire for change and a path for the future.”
The RN was founded by Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie, a former paratrooper who was convicted under Holocaust denial laws after claiming that fewer than six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany.
In 2015, he was expelled from the party by his daughter in an attempt to modernise the organisation’s image.
Alternative for Deutschland’s co-leader Tino Chrupalla hailed its second place finish as a “super result”
He said: “[It is] a record result. Our voters remained loyal to us and we beat the party of the chancellor, the Greens and the liberals.”
Germany’s ruling party, the Social Democratic Party, suffered their worst ever result in a national poll and collapsed into third place behind the AfD and their Christian Democratic rivals, by comparison.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted he would not follow’s Macron’s example and call a snap election, however.
The AfD, received widespread support in the east of Germany,
Björn Höcke, the party’s leader in the state of Thuringia, has affiliated with neo-Nazis and criticised the existence of Berlin’s Holocaust memorial.
The Brothers of Italy, which has historic ties to post-fascist groups, took 28.6 per cent of the vote, up from 26 per cent in 2022.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the results, saying: “Italy presents itself at the G7 and in Europe with the government that is strongest of all.”
Despite the far right surge, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commision President, looks set to continue in her role after her parliamentary grouping, the European People's Party Group, won 186 seats.
“There remains a majority in the centre for a strong Europe. The centre is holding,” she said. “We all have an interest in stability.”
Others have argued, however, that the far right will be able to obtain an outsized impact in the new European parliament by working together.
“The dynamics are going to be very different,” said one senior EU diplomat told The Guardian.
“Parts of the hard right are clearly aiming to maximise their influence by collaborating, rather than fighting. And clearly, parts of the mainstream are very open to that.”
