PARIS (AP) 鈥 French far-right leader Marine Le Pen isn鈥檛 on the ballot at the weekend鈥檚 European Parliament election, but she鈥檚 likely to emerge as one of its biggest winners.
Polls expect her 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Rally party to be the top vote-getter in France, trouncing President Emmanuel 惭补肠谤辞苍鈥檚 moderate pro-business party. And across Europe, the Le Pen has long championed are gaining ground.
The June 6-9 elections in all 27 EU countries will shift the makeup of the European Parliament and policy-making in the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, likely further toward the right and far right. And that could boost Le Pen's chances of winning France鈥檚 presidency in 2027, a .
The 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Rally鈥檚 lead European Parliament candidate Jordan Bardella is riding high on promises to limit free movement of migrants within the EU's open borders, ease up EU pressure on Russia and .
鈥淲e stand by the idea of rethinking the European model around the idea of nations. 惭补肠谤辞苍鈥檚 Europe is a model of the past,鈥 Bardella said at a Paris rally Sunday.
惭补肠谤辞苍鈥檚 meanwhile is flailing, and its chief candidate Valerie Hayer has struggled to make a mark. That鈥檚 troubling for Macron as he tries to lead Europe-wide efforts to and boost the EU鈥檚 own defenses and industry.
More popular Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is now joining Hayer at rallies, warning voters that hard-fought post-war European unity 鈥 and democracy itself -鈥 is under threat by rising authoritarianism.
鈥欌橢urope is mortal, because war knocks on our door as bombs are being dropped on Ukraine, on democracy, on our values, and because we know that if Russia wins it won鈥檛 stop there,鈥 Attal said at a rally last week.
He said Europe knows "it can鈥檛 rely on the U.S. eternally and needs to protect itself ... because challenges are multiplying, climate change, big tech, AI, and we can only face them together, the 27 of us.鈥
While EU voters are choosing members of the European Parliament, many are making decisions based on national concerns 鈥 and in France, many are expected to use their ballots to express frustration with 惭补肠谤辞苍鈥檚 management of the economy, , or security in a country about to host the .
On the left, polls show a surprising resurgence of France鈥檚 Socialist Party behind its lead candidate, Raphael Glucksmann, who pledges more ambitious climate policy and protections for European businesses and workers.
Macron sidelined France鈥檚 once-powerful Socialists and mainstream conservative Republicans when he rose to power in 2017 by staking out a middle ground. But frustration among left-wing voters with 惭补肠谤辞苍鈥檚 toughening security and immigration policies, and with the staunch pro-Palestinian stance of the influential far-left France Unbowed party, has driven some back toward the traditional Socialists.
Russia's president, Gulf leaders and other oil powers can 鈥樷檆ut supplies of gas or oil, but they can鈥檛 prevent the wind from blowing in (the French Atlantic town of) Saint-Nazaire and the sun from shining in Marseille. We will earn our freedom back by completing the environmental transformation,鈥 Glucksmann told followers last week.
His fans include office workers like S茅bastien Miret, 34.
鈥淲e want a more feminist, more socially conscious, fairer, more environmentalist Europe, and we鈥檙e going to fight to the end to see these ideas win,'' he said at a Socialist campaign event. He's tired of the 鈥樷檓atch between Macron and the far-right. We鈥檝e seen it too many times. It鈥檚 time to move on.鈥
Still, it's Le Pen 鈥 runner-up to Macron in the last two presidential elections 鈥 who is expected to benefit the most from France鈥檚 protest vote, even more so than her party did in the last EU elections in 2019.
In the working-class northern France town of Henin-Beaumont, 19-year-old first-time voter Theo Boulogne urged Le Pen to run again for president in 2027, while 76-year-old retiree Gerard Criquelette praised her and Bardella, saying, 鈥淭hey both listen to the people.''
Le Pen, whose father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen was repeatedly convicted of racism and anti-semitism, no longer calls for extreme measures like quitting the EU and the euro. Instead, she aims to weaken the EU's powers from within.
"Across Europe, national parties are rising up not to destroy the European Union, but to build a European alliance of nations capable of facing up to the industrial, environmental, migratory and technological challenges of the 21st century,鈥 Le Pen told party followers. 鈥淎cross France and across Europe, we are winning the battle.''
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Oleg Cetinic and Alex Turnbull in Paris, and Philippe Marion in Henin-Beaumont, contributed.
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