Collapse of Macron era, rise of ultra-nationalists: Europe at risk of Islamophobia

By Azernews

OPINION

French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to dissolve the national assembly and call snap parliamentary elections resulted in a heavy blow to his centrist Renaissance party from the centre-right in the European Parliament elections.

The piece compares the French president's decision to a roll of the dice, as centre-right support is at its highest, other political forces are in "confusion" and the Paris Olympics are just around the corner.

“The result was a sharp rebuke to France’s Europhile president, who came to power in 2017 promising to ensure that French voters “no longer have any reason to vote for extreme parties,” writes foreign media, describing the election results as “a humiliation for Macron".

In addition, the text says, Macron's defeat was a "crushing blow" for Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who was appointed less than six months ago to "breathe new life into Macron's second term in office."

Macron is currently suffering from a bitter defeat to his rivals Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella and their National Rally party. He had to accept this defeat knowingly. Because the surveys conducted before the elections in the European Parliament confirmed this.

Far-rights not to enjoy as great a surge across Europe many expected

In the run-up to the elections, the great faith in the far right was somewhat shaken. However, before the elections, the predictions about them in Europe were completely different.

For example, in the Netherlands, anti-Islamic populist Geert Wilders' Freedom Party came second in the elections; In Belgium, the separatist Vlaams Belang lost to the nationalist New Flemish Alliance.

While the European Parliament elections grabbed the headlines with the bitter defeat of Macron and his centrist Renaissance party, the other side of it has also caused concern for many. The elections that ended on Sunday not only resulted in 720 MEPs serving the next five years in the European assembly. This also revealed serious predictions about the future of Muslim migrants, who are always the target of right-wing parties in Europe. These conservative parties, which currently have a majority in the parliament, are waiting for the possible victory of Donald Trump in the United States. They are going to navigate their political contours with it.

In a nutshell, if France has created a Gestapo regime against the Muslim community until now, it is not inevitable that stricter measures will be taken in the future.

Thus, the results of the elections show once again that Europe, including France, will then take a full turn towards extremism, radical conservatism, ultra-nationalism and authoritarianism. It is true that the defeat of the centrist Renaissance party was due to the attitude of the French people towards Macron's Bonapartism, his unjustified self-righteousness and the appearance of having a decisive status in global problems, his policy that led to the bankruptcy of French foreign policy, and his neglect of internal problems. However, the recent victory of both the centre and the extreme right will further increase the Islamophobia tendencies, which have become a global issue.