The European Parliament elections over the weekend have caused a political earthquake across Europe. Politico has referred to it as "Europe's Trump moment". While it had an impact in several nations--Germany, Austria, and even Hungary (which has been Conservative for some time), the big impact was in France. Macron's party drew 15% while Marie Le Pen's party drew 34%. This has triggered parliamentary elections in France, which may lead to the unseating of one of the hawks in the Anti-Russia movement in the EU. Interesting stuff of which Americans may not be aware.
I come from Europe. These are nice headlines in the newspapers, but in reality nothing has changed. The conservative party still has the majority in the EU Parliament. The right-wing parties have won seats and also done well in the individual countries. But that won't change much. It will only be interesting in the upcoming elections in the individual European countries. France has already announced new elections, Austria will have its turn in September,... I don't know how much people outside Europe are aware of the problems here or how they are being portrayed. Europe is creating a morally superior image of itself that it can no longer afford. It fails because of the idea of where it should go and the actual living conditions.
France is in turmoil as Marie LePen's party has made significant gains in Parliament. What will that mean in the foreign policy department and support for Ukraine? I have no idea. I think Germany and Austria will have elections soon as well.
Germany votes in 2025. Austria votes on 29 September. There is always an uproar, but for me it is only artificially created to motivate the respective voters to go to the polls. What happens before an election is completely different to what happens after the election. You only have to look at Italy and Meloni. There were also warnings that post-fascism would return and now many in the EU are happy about Meloni. But something will have to change in Europe otherwise this development will continue and become more radicalised. You have to listen to the people and not just do what you think is good or what you think is morally good. What I think is good and what is actually needed are two different things. You have to be aware of that.