Emmanuel Macron calls for early elections in France after crushing defeat in European Parliament elections

French President Emmanuel Macron , called this Sunday for early legislative elections in France after right-wing party National Rally (R.N.) achieved almost a third of the votes in the European Parliament elections in his country.

"In a few moments I will sign the decree calling for the legislative elections, the first round of which will take place on June 30 and the runoff on July 7," Macron said in a televised message just an hour after the closure of polling stations.

Jordan Bardella, known as the spiritual successor to Marine Le Pen, obtained between 31.5% and 32.4% of the votes, followed by Valérie Hayer (15.2%) and socialist Raphaël Glucksmann (14%), according to estimates by the polling institutes Ifop and Ipsos.

"This afternoon a wind of hope blew in France and it has only just begun," Bardella said before his supporters. He previously demanded that the president dissolve the National Assembly (part of the French Parliament) and called for early elections, something that ultimately ended up happening.

As the 28-year-old added, "Emmanuel Macron is a weakened president tonight" due to the "resounding defeat," so he "cannot remain deaf to the message" sent with these results. "This unprecedented defeat marks the end of a cycle," said Bardella.

Prior to these elections, Macron was one of the least popular European leaders in his country, so the ballot box confirmed what the polls had been anticipating.

Bardella's victory was a hard setback for Macron and his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, who were involved in the final stretch of the campaign with the aim of stopping the right, which according to the French president could "block" the European Union. R.N.'s result, one of the best in its history, confirms the efforts of its leader, Marine Le Pen, to give a more moderate image to the party that she inherited in 2018 from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Who is Jordan Bardella?

Bardella was born into a family of Italian origin and grew up in the care of his mother in a social housing tower in the suburbs of Paris. In 2021, he became president of R.N., although always under the gaze of Le Pen.

The commitment of this young man convinced the French from the beginning, according to the polls, where he averaged 33% of the votes for weeks. His platform focused on fighting "mass immigration" and the "breakdown of France."