European Elections Veer Hard Right: Macron Calls For Snap Election

[Kathianne]

France, Germany, Italy all go far right, reject communist and greens:

https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240609-2024-european-elections-president-macron-announces-dissolution-of-french-parliament


2024 European elections: President Macron dissolves French parliamentIssued on: 09/06/2024 - 21:06
Modified: 09/06/2024 - 21:12



https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/06/10/hungary-newcomer-peter-magyar-shakes-orbans-hold-on-power-early-results-say


Hungary: Newcomer Peter Magyar shakes Orban's hold on power, early results sayPolitical newcomer Péter Magyar speaks to the media after casting his ballot, at a polling station during European Parliamentary elections, in Budapest, Sunday, June 2024.
Copyright Denes Erdos/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.
By Tamsin Paternoster
Published on 10/06/2024 - 01:14•Updated 01:16


https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-european-election-results-2024-german-coalition-olaf-scholz-social-democrats/


NEWSPOLITICS
EU vote humiliates Scholz’s German coalition
European Parliament election rout renews questions about whether Berlin government will survive.



https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/irish-coalition-parties-set-trounce-sinn-fein-local-elections-2024-06-08/


EuropeIrish coalition parties hammer Sinn Fein in local elections
By Padraic Halpin
June 9, 20243:43 PM MSTUpdated 5 hours ago


https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italys-pm-meloni-solidifies-top-spot-eu-vote-exit-poll-2024-06-09/


EuropeItaly's PM Meloni comes out on top in EU vote, strengthening her hand
By Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante
June 9, 20244:10 PM MSTUpdated 5 hours ago

[Kathianne]

Aftermath so far:

https://apnews.com/article/eu-election-right-migration-climate-polls-vote-0fbfcb7bd987008e802d70f759fa870b


WORLD NEWSFar-right gains in the EU election deal stunning defeats to France’s Macron and Germany’s Scholz
Germany’s governing parties were heading for very weak results and the far-right Alternative for Germany made gains in Sunday’s vote for the European Parliament


BY LORNE COOK, RAF CASERT AND SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Updated 5:59 PM MST, June 9, 2024


BRUSSELS (AP) — Far-right parties rattled the traditional powers in the European Union and made major gains in parliamentary elections Sunday, dealing an especially humiliating defeat to French President Emmanuel Macron.


On a night where the 27-member bloc palpably shifted to the right, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni more than doubled her seats in the EU parliament. And even if the Alternative for Germany extreme right party was hounded by scandal involving candidates, it still rallied enough seats to sweep past the slumping Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.


Over 50 countries go to the polls in 2024


Sensing a threat from the far right, the Christian Democrats of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had already shifted further to the right on migration and climate ahead of the elections — and were rewarded by remaining by far the biggest group in the 720-seat European Parliament and de facto brokers of the ever expanding powers of the legislature.


Undoubtedly however, the star on a stunning electoral night was the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen, which dominated the French polls to such an extent that Macron immediately dissolved the national parliament and called for new elections. It was a massive political risk since his party could suffer more losses, hobbling the rest of his presidential term that ends in 2027.


Le Pen was delighted to accept the challenge. “We’re ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to mass immigration,” she said, echoing the rallying cry of so many far-right leaders in other countries who were celebrating substantial wins.


Her National Rally won over 30% or about twice as much as Macron’s pro-European centrist Renew party that is projected to reach less than 15%.


Macron acknowledged the thud of defeat. “I’ve heard your message, your concerns, and I won’t leave them unanswered,” he said, adding that calling a snap election only underscored his democratic credentials.


In Germany, the most populous nation in the 27-member bloc, projections indicated that the AfD overcame a string of scandals involving its top candidate to rise to 16.5%, up from 11% in 2019. In comparison, the combined result for the three parties in the German governing coalition barely topped 30%.


Scholz suffered such an ignominious fate that his long-established Social Democratic party fell behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, which surged into second place. “After all the prophecies of doom, after the barrage of the last few weeks, we are the second strongest force,” a jubilant AfD leader Alice Weidel said.


The four-day polls in the 27 EU countries were the world’s second-biggest exercise in democracy, behind India’s recent election.


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.


For decades, the European Union, which has its roots in the defeat of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, confined the hard right to the political fringes. With its strong showing in these elections, the far right could now become a major player in policies ranging from migration to security and climate.


To stave that off, von der Leyen offered to build a coalition with the Social Democrats and the pro-business Liberals. Since the Christian Democrats won seats while the two others lost, von der Leyen can do so from a position of strength.


“We are by far the strongest party, We are the anchor of stability,” von der Leyen regaled. Reflecting on the rise of the far-right and a good showing of the far-left, von der Leyen added that “the result comes with great stability for the parties in the center. We all have interest in stability and we all want a strong and effective Europe”


In the legislature, provisional results showed that the Christian Democrats would have 189 seats, up 13, the Social Democrats 135, down 4 and the pro-business Renew group 83, down 19. The Greens slumped to 53, down 18.


Germany, traditionally a stronghold for environmentalists, exemplified the humbling of the Greens, who were predicted to fall from 20% to 12%. With further losses expected in France and elsewhere, the defeat of the Greens could well have an impact on the EU’s overall climate change policies, still the most progressive across the globe.


The center-right Christian Democratic bloc of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which already weakened its green credentials ahead of the polls, dominated in Germany with almost 30%, easily beating Scholz’s Social Democrats, who fell to 14%, even behind the AfD.


The electoral shift to the right could make it harder for the EU to pass legislation, and decision-making could at times be paralyzed in the world’s biggest trading bloc.


EU lawmakers, who serve a five-year term, have a say in issues from financial rules to climate and agriculture policy. They approve the EU budget, which bankrolls priorities including infrastructure projects, farm subsidies and aid delivered to Ukraine. And they hold a veto over appointments to the powerful EU commission.


The elections come at a testing time for voter confidence in a bloc of some 450 million people. Over the last five years, the EU has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, an economic slump and an energy crisis fueled by the biggest land conflict in Europe since World War II. But political campaigning often focuses on issues of concern in individual countries rather than on broader European interests.


Since the last EU election in 2019, populist or far-right parties now lead governments in three nations — Hungary, Slovakia and Italy — and are part of ruling coalitions in others including Sweden, Finland and, soon, the Netherlands. Polls give the populists an advantage in France, Belgium, Austria and Italy.


“Right is good,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who leads a stridently nationalist and anti-migrant government, told reporters after casting his ballot. “To go right is always good. Go right!”

[Kathianne]

A few hours later, a bit of moderation in interpretation. There is a message, but more of a warning than revolution:

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/06/10/ffs-if-its-not-explicitly-leftist-its-far-right-n3789951


FFS: If It's Not Explicitly Leftist, It's 'Far Right'DAVID STROM 10:00 AM | June 10, 2024



AP Photo/Matthias Schrader
Europeans have had enough with open borders, rising crime, Islamism, and especially their elites.


They haven't been saying so by rioting, breaking things, or through roving bands of immigrant bashers. They went to the polls and voted in some new representatives in the European Parliament, dumping the farther left parties and increasing the share of immigration skeptics.


Finally.


Predictably the worldwide media is going crazy, screaming about how the "far Right" is taking over in Europe, presumably a harbinger of a Nazi takeover of the continent.


Hardly. In fact, while the right increased its share of representatives, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and the lead candidate of the European People's Party (EPP) will still lead the largest faction in the EU.


Too bad. But so it goes.




The electoral collapse of the open borders left is hardly surprising, at least to anybody who understands that ordinary people don't like people roaming the streets shouting about Sharia law, killing Jews, and restructuring European society to please medievalists who see terrorists as martyrs and women as targets for sexual assaults.




The election is leading to a seismic shift in the balance of power--a shift with as yet unknown but likely relatively mild consequences in the grand scheme of things. The Greens lost big, AfD in Germany surged, and Marine LePen's party did so well that Emmanuel Macron is calling for snap elections in France.




I guess that visit with Biden was bad luck. Big surprise.


It wasn't just Macron who took it on the chin. None of the ruling coalition parties in Scholz's coalition did as well as the immigration-skeptical AfD, and in Belgium the election results were disastrous for the ruling party.


Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni has cemented her role as a key Brussels power broker with an estimated 26-30% of the votes, while in France, President Emmanuel Macron has performed so badly he's been pushed to call snap elections.


A first estimate of election results produced by the European Parliament suggests the Green and liberal Renew parties each losing around 20 MEPs each, potentially endangering the pro-European majority needed to back top officials and support EU laws.


The second projection, produced after all polls closed, shows the Green party taking just 52 MEPs, compared to 72 in March 2024.


Renew, spearheaded by Macron, fell from 102 seats to 80, the figures suggest, leading the President to take the surprising move of dissolving the country's National Assembly.


That collapse is accompanied by rising support for the extreme parties, even if some of those have not yet been allocated to political groups.


In France, projections suggest the far-right National Rally (RN) party, has secured a whopping 31.5% of the votes — more than twice the number gained by Macron, who released a message on Twitter.


The message was essentially "I hear you." We'll have to see if that means he understands.




Vivek Ramaswamy hit the nail on the head in response to the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth we are witnessing coming from the Internationalist Left:




There is nothing "far right" about what is happening; it is a correction from a leftward lurch in which the ruling elites abandoned the European working classes and adopted the radical anti-growth, anti-farming, and pro-immigration policies that have been immiserating people.


It's not like there haven't been ample warnings that this revolt was coming. People have been making their feelings known, begged for relief from these policies, and have been rebuffed.


And Europeans, unlike the hundreds of thousands of Hamas supporters who have been pouring into the streets shouting their disdain for the natives, made their feelings known at the ballot box.


That's how we do it in civilized countries--and the Left hates that.


So they scream insults at their own citizens. Is it any surprise that the ordinary voters decided to find new representatives?

[Gunny]

France, Germany, Italy all go far right, reject communist and greens:

https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240609-2024-european-elections-president-macron-announces-dissolution-of-french-parliament



https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/06/10/hungary-newcomer-peter-magyar-shakes-orbans-hold-on-power-early-results-say



https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-european-election-results-2024-german-coalition-olaf-scholz-social-democrats/



https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/irish-coalition-parties-set-trounce-sinn-fein-local-elections-2024-06-08/



https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italys-pm-meloni-solidifies-top-spot-eu-vote-exit-poll-2024-06-09/"Hard right" being anything left of socialism:rolleyes: The Chicken Littles are out and shouting.

[Black Diamond]

Question. What are Europeans paying for energy now considering the high percentage they used to buy from putin?
And then another question. How important is climate to them given this massive price increase?

[Gunny]

Question. What are Europeans paying for energy now considering the high percentage they used to buy from putin?
And then another question. How important is climate to them given this massive price increase?Climate appears to have taken a back seat to the threat Putin presents. They'll of course try to have their cake and eat it too, but cranking up old nuclear power plants and planning new ones speaks for itself.

[fj1200]

Question. What are Europeans paying for energy now considering the high percentage they used to buy from putin?
And then another question. How important is climate to them given this massive price increase?

Natural gas prices are higher than 2 years ago. Seem comparable to 3 years ago.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eu-natural-gas

[Black Diamond]

Natural gas prices are higher than 2 years ago. Seem comparable to 3 years ago.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eu-natural-gas

Well there goes that idea. Is it the Wokeness then?

[fj1200]

Well there goes that idea. Is it the Wokeness then?

I'm not sure what your question is. Your climate question? I don't think the "hard right" cares to much about the climate necessarily but the Euros have already gone green so I think it's kind of baked into their society already. The greens still whine about construction projects and none of what's happening is going to affect laws already on the books and how the courts react.