French President Emmanuel Macron sees himself as Europe’s savior, and this week’s European Parliament elections as a make-or-break moment for the beleaguered European Union.
But Macron is no longer the fresh-faced force who marched into a surprising presidential victory to the rhythm of the EU anthem two years ago. His pro-Europe vision has collided with national interests across the continent. And at home, his pro-business policies have given rise to France’s raucous yellow vest uprising.
Macron wanted the May 23-26 European Parliament elections to be his shining moment to push his ambitions for a stronger Europe — but instead, nationalists and populists who blame the 28-nation bloc for piles of problems could achieve unprecedented success. They argue that elitist EU leaders have failed to manage migration and remain out of touch with ordinary workers’ concerns.
“We have a crisis of the European Union. This is a matter of fact. Everywhere in Europe … all the extremes, extreme-rights, are increasing,” Macron said Thursday, making an unexpected appeal for European unity on the sidelines of a technology trade show.
“On currency, on digital, on climate action, we need more Europe,” he said. “I want the EU to be more protective of our borders regarding migration, terrorism and so on, but I think if you fragment Europe, there is no chance you have a stronger Europe.”
Macron has already visited 20 of the EU’s 28 countries in his two years in office, and while he acknowledges the EU’s problems, he says they can only be solved by fixing the bloc — not disassembling it.
Even at home, Macron is far from certain of being able to claim victory in the European vote. Loiseau’s campaign has been lackluster, and polls suggest their party is in a close race with the far-right National Rally in the election, which takes place in France on May 26.
Le Pen’s National Rally is determined to take revenge after she lost to Macron in 2017, and the European election campaigning has been unusually personal.
Le Pen compared Macron this weekend to “a child king” with “a kind of conviction of superpower.” Speaking at a meeting of European nationalist leaders in Italy, Le Pen accused Macron of unfairly using his presidential office to campaign against her, and challenged him to step down if his party doesn’t come out on top.
Le Pen isn’t Macron’s only problem. His political opponents across the spectrum are calling on French voters to seize the European elections to reject his government’s policies.
While he won 64% of the presidential vote in 2017, Macron’s popularity has been around half that for the past year.
No comments:
Post a Comment