Monday Briefing

“I cannot go on as though nothing has happened,” President Emmanuel Macron said.Credit…Lewis Joly/Associated Press

After E.U. vote, France’s president called for new elections

President Emmanuel Macron of France, who was dealt a crushing defeat by the extreme right in European elections, dissolved the lower house of Parliament yesterday. He called for legislative elections beginning on June 30.

Macron’s decision was indicative of the devastating nature of the European Parliament election results. His centrist party was projected to finish with less than half the support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, which is set to become the leading French party.

“The rise of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for our nation and for Europe,” Macron said. “After this day, I cannot go on as though nothing has happened.”

My colleague Aurelien Breeden, who covers France, weighed in on the decision. “It’s a little hard to say definitively why Macron decided to make this move now,” he said. “But his domestic agenda has been hobbled by a weak majority in the lower house of Parliament for the past two years, and the strong far-right showing appears to have convinced him that he could no longer proceed with business as usual.”

Partial results for the European Parliament elections, held by 27 countries in the E.U., appeared to show voters largely backing centrist candidates, with far-right parties making serious inroads in France and Germany. Centrist political groups lost seats but were poised to maintain a majority of more than 400 seats in the 720-seat assembly. But the outcome has unsettled the bloc’s mainstream establishment and seems likely to steel the far-right as a disruptive force. Here are live results.