The results of the European Parliament (EP) elections held between June 6-9 delivered a significant shock to the neoliberal Atlanticist parties. In France, Jordan Bardella, the candidate of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally Party, increased his party’s vote share by 8 points compared to the 2019 elections, achieving 31.47% of the vote, making his party the leading political force in France. Bardella declared, “Macron has lost his power this evening.”
The candidate of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party, Valérie Hayer, saw a decline of 6 points, securing only 14.56% of the vote. Macron acknowledged his defeat and, an hour after the results were announced, declared on television that he would dissolve the Assembly and hold early elections on June 30. Following this announcement, Marine Le Pen stated, “If the French people trust us, we are ready to take power.”
Prior to Macron’s announcement, Jordan Bardella had called on Macron to dissolve the Assembly. The Soros-backed Social Democrat candidate Raphaël Glucksmann finished third with 13.80%, followed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France candidate Manon Aubry in fourth place with 9.87%, the Republican candidate François-Xavier Bellamy in fifth with 7.24%, and Marie Toussaint of the Green Party, who lost 8 points, finishing with 5.47%. Marine Le Pen’s niece, the Reconquest Party candidate, came in sixth with 5.46%, while the French Communist Party candidate was eliminated with only 2.4%.
THE END OF THE MACRON ERA
In 2017, Macron, brought to power by the Atlanticist forces of the state following the collapse of France’s traditional social democratic and conservative neoliberal parties, pursued an expansionist and neoliberal agenda similar to his predecessors, Sarkozy and Hollande. Although shaken by the Yellow Vests Movement, Macron managed to avoid collapse due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Macron faced Marine Le Pen in a second-round runoff, winning re-election with the support of social democrats, communists, and greens. All the system parties of France, both left and right, had united against Le Pen, claiming to have defeated the so-called “fascist Le Pen” and ensuring that Macron, the candidate of finance capital, was re-elected as president.
In his second term, Macron took on the role of a war chief, becoming the spearhead of the US and NATO against Russia. He spearheaded the plans to send troops against Russia and use Western missiles delivered to Ukraine to strike Russia. The energy crisis resulting from his sanctions against Russia crippled the national economy, fueled inflation, decreased purchasing power, and impoverished the public.
The “Macron Model,” created by the Atlanticist wing of the French deep state, has reached its end. Over the past decade, Europeans have gravitated towards nationalism, opposing the neoliberal policies that have impoverished the public, Brussels’ interventions in their national economies, the US’s efforts to dominate Europe, NATO’s eastward expansion and encirclement of Russia, and the sanctions against Russia that have harmed workers and farmers alike. Leading this nationalist wave in Europe is Marine Le Pen’s National Rally Party.
THE NATIONALIST WAVE SPREADS ACROSS EUROPE
In Germany, the conservative CDU-CSU alliance came in first with 30% of the vote, while the nationalist AfD (Alternative for Germany) increased its vote share by 5.5 points, securing 16% and becoming the country’s second-largest political force. The governing coalition parties suffered a significant defeat. The Social Democratic Party (SPD), which secured 26% in the 2021 general elections, fell to 14%, trailing behind the AfD in this election. Similarly, the Greens, who had 20.5% of the vote in the 2019 EP elections, dropped 8.5 points to 12%.
The smaller coalition partner, the Liberals, barely reached the 5% threshold. The future of the government is now uncertain. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder of the opposition Christian Social Union (CSU) called for early elections in Germany following the ruling coalition’s poor performance in the EP elections during an interview with NTV. Similar calls were made by the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the larger partner in the CDU/CSU bloc.
On the other hand, Sahra Wagenknecht, who left the German Left Party in January 2024 and founded the Reason and Justice Party (BSW), made a significant impact by securing 5.5% of the vote. Wagenknecht advocates for an independent Europe, free from being a pawn of US interests and superpowers. She calls for an end to arms supplies, sanctions, and war, and for the re-establishment of energy agreements with Russia. Meanwhile, the German Left Party remained at 20.8%.
A CROSSROADS
In Austria, the nationalist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) emerged as the leading party with 27% of the vote. Similarly, Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands increased its vote share to 17.7%. In Spain, the Vox Party secured around 10% of the vote. In Italy, Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FI) may triple its number of MEPs. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s nationalist party, Fidesz, maintained its lead with 43.8%.
The question now is whether the victory of nationalist parties in these elections will shift the balance of power in the European Parliament. The differences within nationalist ranks may hinder their ability to form a unified group in the EP. In the previous term, nationalist groups were divided into “Identity and Democracy (ID),” “European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR),” and independents.
Regardless of these outcomes, the election results indicate that Europe is at a crossroads. The future of the EU, member states’ fates, economic crises, immigration issues, and the foreign policy approach to the Ukraine war, as well as relations with the US, Russia, and China, will dominate the agenda of the new Parliament.
The defeat of Macron, the loyal Atlanticist who supported PKK/YPG terrorists against Turkey, collaborated with the US in the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, and Karabakh, and instigated war with his anti-Russian stance, would not only strengthen Eurasia but also benefit Turkey if Marine Le Pen comes to power.
THE NATO QUEEN DOES NOT LEARN HER LESSON
Following the elections, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, predicting that her centrist group would remain the largest in the European Parliament, announced her intention to continue on a pro-Ukraine path. According to Sunday’s provisional results, von der Leyen’s European People’s Party (EPP) secured 26% of the seats. While centrist parties are expected to remain strong in various parts of Europe, von der Leyen acknowledged that “extremes on both the left and right have gained support.”
Von der Leyen pledged to her supporters in Brussels, “We will stop them,” vowing to build a fortress against extremism from both the left and right.
WHO IS FAR-RIGHT, WHO IS FASCIST?
Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally Party, who competed against Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, increased her party’s parliamentary seats elevenfold in the last general election, becoming the main opposition with 89 seats. In the recent European Parliament elections, her party won 31.47% of the vote, outperforming all rivals. Despite these successes, unfounded accusations and attacks against Le Pen have intensified.
The so-called leftist parties, including the Social Democratic Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the Greens, which supported Macron in two presidential elections and called on voters to back him, have labeled Le Pen and her party as “far-right” and “fascist.” Some have even claimed that she is the “heir of General Pétain,” who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.
Today, France is not under occupation, but the answer to this question is clear: In the current polarization within the country, who stands with Pétain and who with de Gaulle? On one side are those who submit to the dictates of American imperialism, and on the other are those who defend France’s national independence. On one side are those who advocate the neoliberal agenda of capital-centric global powers, and on the other are those who support a people-centered economic program. On one side are those who serve as NATO soldiers against Russia in Ukraine, and on the other are those who advocate friendship with Russia against NATO.
WHO IS THE TRUE HEIR OF PETAIN NOW?
Is Macron, who violently suppressed the Yellow Vests Movement, passed the pension reform law bypassing the parliament, and introduced a racist immigration law, the real far-right? Or is it Marine Le Pen?
The National Front (Front National), founded in the early 1970s under the leadership of Jean-Marie Le Pen, was a racist party that emphasized xenophobia in its program and rhetoric. Yes, Jean-Marie Le Pen established the party with “Pétainists.” In 2011, his daughter Marine Le Pen took over the leadership of the party. Marine Le Pen and her team accurately analyzed global and domestic developments. The masses impoverished by globalization and neoliberal policies began turning to her party. Marine Le Pen rolled up her sleeves to rid her party of the labels “racist,” “fascist,” and “far-right.” She started by purging her father’s racist cadres. When her father’s 1997 statement, “The gas chambers are a minor detail of World War II,” resurfaced in 2015, Marine Le Pen expelled her father from the party.
Marine Le Pen advocates policies such as preventing the entry of new immigrants, deporting foreigners who disrupt public order, and restricting their rights, which she explains with the slogan “France First.” Today, she has softened these policies and adopted a stance that emphasizes national sovereignty.
Domestically, she opposes neoliberal policies, while internationally, she has developed anti-US and anti-NATO policies. She rejected Brussels’ dictates and adopted a pro-Russian stance. In 2014, she supported Crimea’s accession to Russia and declared that Crimea is Russian territory. As a result, a report was prepared accusing her of being “Russia’s agent” and claiming that she received a 9 million euro loan from Russia in the 2017 elections.
Paul Faur, the Socialist Party’s General Secretary for 20 years, wanted to become a minister in Pétain’s fascist government, and when he could not, he settled for becoming a member of the National Council, which was a kind of Constituent Assembly of Vichy, established in January 1941, surrendering to the Vichy regime. Likewise, René Belin, Deputy Secretary General of the CGT, aligned with the Social Democrats, served as the Minister of Industry and Labor in the Vichy government. Pétain’s deputy was Pierre Laval, who had been a member of the Socialist Party during World War I.
Today, the same collaborationist social democrats with a tarnished record during World War II and the Atlanticist Social Liberal Macron’s prime ministers and leaders, who abandoned de Gaulle for Sarkozy in 2007, are now labeling the National Rally Party, which opposes the US, NATO, and the Brussels dictatorship of the EU, as “far-right” and “fascist.”
COMMON GROUND AMONG EUROPEAN NATIONALISTS
Although there are some differences, other nationalist parties in Europe share the same line as Marine Le Pen. They defend their countries’ national interests against the Brussels dictatorship, oppose globalization, resist sanctions against Russia, and do not support sending arms to Ukraine. In the international arena, they advocate friendship with the Eurasian powers rather than siding with the US and NATO.
Another common characteristic of these parties is that they receive support from the lowest strata of society, from those who oppose the system: the workers, farmers, civil servants, and retirees who are the primary voters of these parties.
ATLANTICIST PARTIES IN PANIC
All of France’s parties are in a state of panic, calling for unity against French nationalists. Macron announced the dissolution of the Assembly, but remains silent on what course he will take on June 30.
The staunch Atlanticist parties, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the Greens, have called for the formation of a “People’s Front” against Le Pen’s National Rally Party. The National Secretary of the French Communist Party called for the creation of a “pact for France” through a “people’s front for a social and ecological Republic.”
According to Socialist Party General Secretary Olivier Faure, the left must now “agree on ten or fifteen priorities.” He asked, “Can we agree on these priorities? We don’t have time. It’s five minutes to midnight, so we must now ensure that the far right does not win the upcoming legislative elections.”
François Ruffin, a deputy from Mélenchon’s party, continued to list the topics on which the leftist parties share a sense of “openness” during an interview with France Inter: “Taxing dividends,” “indexing wages to inflation,” “a citizen’s initiative referendum as a democratic measure,” “ending identity checks without a registered offense,” and “recognizing Palestine diplomatically as a state.”
He continued, “The question now is: do we want to come together? Do we want to win together or lose together? The issue is not to display our grudges [between leftist parties], but to throw them into the river.” Ruffin called for this “urgent situation” to be turned into an “opportunity” because the legislative elections will be held much earlier than expected, and the country needs an “exit.”
