German Reactions to Yesterday's First Round Election Gains Have Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National

  

Below the Guardian article (see link below), there was one reporter, Deborah Cole, who has reported on reactions from Germany to Macron's election defeat in the first round of yesterday's snap parliamentary elections in France.

It was interesting, and seemed worth sharing. Here is what she said:

2m ago 09.38 BST Deborah Cole Deborah Cole 

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and his cabinet are respecting the unofficial ban on commenting on foreign elections in the immediate aftermath of the RN’s bombshell success.  

However other influential politicians have weighed in to express their shock, with Michael Roth of Scholz’s Social Democrats laying some of the blame for the far right’s triumph at the feet of the German government.  

“We didn’t ask ourselves enough how we could better support the pro-European liberal president, Macron,” Roth, the chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told the German edition of Politico.  

“We don’t show enough consideration to the political debates and problems of other countries,” he added, noting that the alternative to Macron “is indeed no longer Sarkozy but rather a hard-right nationalist like Marine Le Pen”.  

If she gains power, “that would have dramatic consequences for us. France is the heart of united Europe. If that heart doesn’t beat robustly, the EU could have a heart attack”.  

Sebastian Fischer of news magazine Der Spiegel said Macron’s high-stakes gamble had clearly blown up in his face, comparing his attempt to call French voters’ bluff after the European parliament elections with the snap poll to the behaviour of a “child with a tantrum”.  

“That is the situation our closest ally, friend and partner is in, without whom a united Europe as we know it can’t work. The bursts of shellfire are getting closer,” Fischer said with an eye to the rise of Germany’s leading far-right party, the Alternative für Deutschland.  

Meanwhile, Die Zeit foreign affairs correspondent Jörg Lau compared Macron’s reckless roll of the dice to the Brexit gamble of David Cameron when he was UK prime minister.  

Writing sarcastically on X, Lau joked: “Emmanuel #Macron to join ‘David Cameron Political Consulting’ strategy firm after French snap election backfired with massive win by Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National.”

France election live: first-round results give far-right alliance 33% of vote, as PM warns Le Pen at ‘gates of power’ by Sam Jones (now) and Helen Livingstone (earlier), Mon 1 Jul 2024.

Gabriel Attal urges tactical voting in second round to keep party from forming country’s first far-right government  

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jul/01/france-election-2024-live-updates-polls-results-marine-le-pen-national-rally-ens-nfp