French elections: Macron's party wins first round
In the first round of the parliamentary elections in France, the “Total” bloc led by President Emmanuel Macron scored 25, 65% of the votes. Thus, the bloc was 0.09% ahead of the New People's Ecological and Social Union, headed by leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, according to BFM TV after processing 100% of the ballots. Third the place is taken by the National Association of Marine Le Pen with 18.67% of the vote. These three political forces advanced to the second round. Other parties did not get into it because they did not get the required minimum of 12.5% of the vote. More than half of the voters (52.48%) ignored the elections – the turnout was 47.52%, observers reported, adding , that due to the peculiarities of the French system of parliamentary elections, the balance of power following the second round may change significantly. According to the TV channel’s forecast, after the second round, Macron’s coalition will be able to get from 270 to 310 seats in parliament, Mélenchon’s association – from 170 to 220, Le Pen's party from 15 to 30. Macron is one of the world leaders who continue to call for dialogue with Putin. One of his high-profile statements is the call “not to humiliate the Russian Federation, so that after the end of the war in Ukraine, it would be possible to pave the way out through diplomacy.” At the same time, Macron notes that the invasion of Ukraine was a “historical and fundamental mistake” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
