Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella (right) stands with his colleague Marine Le Pen. Their party is expected to top the polls in Sunday’s first round of parliamentary elections.
The two-round system makes the final outcome difficult to predict. But it seems certain that Mr. Macron’s supporters will no longer be the largest parliamentary group.
Mr. Starmer’s political calculus could encourage him to maintain the Conservatives’ emphasis on Ukraine. Pre-election, support for Kyiv was one of several issues on which he’d deliberately steered his Labour Party to the political center, marginalizing its left wing.
Mr. Macron may face a trickier challenge. France’s constitution is ambiguous over the extent of his sway over foreign policy. And he will be governing alongside a changed National Assembly.
Both Ms. Le Pen and the main far-left leaders have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But they have shown themselves to be decidedly tepid toward NATO, skeptical about risking too deep a French involvement in Ukraine, and drawn to the notion of a negotiated compromise.
The question facing Britain’s new prime minister and France’s electorally chastened president will not be whether to drop their support for Ukraine altogether.
But the nature of that support is at stake: how high a priority will it be? For how long will the two men use their voices in Europe and beyond to take a lead role in drumming up sustained financial and military support for Kyiv?
And those questions may become critically important to Ukraine’s future because of another election.
The vote in the U.S. this November could bring Donald Trump, openly sympathetic to Russia’s claims on Ukraine, back to the White House. That would test European mettle as never before.
Source link : https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2024/0627/EU-elections-France-UK-Ukraine-Nato
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Publish date : 2024-06-27 19:15:03
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