“Thunderbolt”, “political suicide”, ” hangover “, “political earthquake”… The press of European countries outbids itself, from metaphor to metaphor, the day after the victory of the National Rally in the European elections with 31.5% of the votes, which spells the defeat of the presidential camp. She witnessed, stunned, the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly by the President of the Republic and the holding of new elections within a very short time frame.
“Machiavellian calculation”
“A political earthquake shakes France”writes the German newspaper Die Welt. Qualifying Emmanuel Macron’s speech as “short and surprising”the editor-in-chief of the conservative daily believes “risky” the maneuver of the head of state.
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“Perhaps Emmanuel Macron hopes that the French wanted to take advantage of this election to send a warning shot and that they will return to Republican values when things get serious. This could be a mistake”she writes, leaving the possibility of a “Machiavellian calculation”.
For Die WeltEmmanuel Macron could conclude a “forced political marriage” with the far right, betting that Jordan Bardella, 28, and his colleagues “will not rise to the occasion” : “If he handed over the keys to the Élysée to Le Pen after two mandates and a decade in power, he would go down in history as a failed president. »
Emmanuel Macron’s warnings that Europe could ” die “have not found an echo in France, deplores the economic daily Handelsblatt. He regrets that Emmanuel Macron’s strategy has ” failed “, despite his multiple interventions in the campaign. The dissolution of the National Assembly by one who experienced a “dull re-election” in 2022 is a “risky electoral bet”considers the German newspaper, for which “Emmanuel Macron could miscalculate.”
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In Austria, the Kronen Zeitungone of the country’s main daily newspapers, is surprised to “the totally unexpected way” with which the President of the Republic called elections. After “the bitter defeat” from the presidential camp, Paris is prey to ” hangover “notes the Austrian newspaper.
Emmanuel Macron’s unexpected speech also surprised Italy. THE Corriere della Sera evoked “one of the most dramatic moments of recent years”broadcast yesterday “instead of the planned France-Canada football match »specifies the center-right newspaper.
For La Repubblica, “France is rushing into unknown territory”. The newspaper, rather left-leaning, highlights a paradox: “Macron, who asked for an Olympic truce from the protagonists of international conflicts, finds himself in a ditch at the Élysée, without a majority, with the prospect of having to govern with Le Pen”writes the daily.
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In Spain, the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia questions the success of the RN in the European elections and “a potential dramatic change of direction” in French politics, the impact of which will be felt “across Europe, even more so in the context of the war in Ukraine.”
The diplomatic question also concerns El País, “the arrival in government of a party reluctant to help Ukraine” and who maintains “links with Vladimir Putin’s Russia” is not ” safe “. He recalls that the victory of Marine Le Pen’s party is not really a surprise.
A dangerous “weapon”
It’s a “monumental slap for the presidential camp (…) worn by the unknown Valérie Hayer »notes the correspondent in France for the Belgian newspaper, La Libre Belgique. ” Tear (of dissolution) can turn against the one who brandishes it”she recalls, evoking the victory of the left in 1997 which forced Jacques Chirac into cohabitation, he who wanted to consolidate his majority in Parliament. “Emmanuel Macron, as we know, likes to take his risks and establish himself as the master of clocks. (…) Does the wounded political animal want to show that it is still roaring and that it can once again impose itself at the center of the game? »
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Across the Channel, the British press is trying to understand Macron’s strategy. The Guardian considers it to be a “huge bet (Of the president) on his political future, three years before the end of his five-year term”adding that Emmanuel Macron has often been “accused of playing with French democracy”.
“President Macron’s decision to call legislative elections has left French commentators perplexed by what some have called an act of political suicide”explains Adam Sage, Paris correspondent for Times. “The prospect of France having a right-wing populist prime minister at the Olympics this summer is now real. This would be the first time that the far right has ruled the country since Marshal Pétain. »
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