French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday (09/06) the dissolution of the National Assembly and the calling of early elections, after seeing his centrist alliance defeated by the ultra-right National Regroupment (RN) party in the European Parliament elections.

According to exit polls, the RN won 31.5% of the vote, more than double that of Macron's pro-European Union coalition, with 15.2% of the vote, and a considerable increase on 2019's 23.3%.

As of 5 p.m. local time, the French voter turnout was 45.3% - almost 2 percentage points more than in 2019. European elections have a low turnout rate, but in 2019 the bloc saw its first growth, with 50.7% of voters going to the polls.

Currently, Macron does not have a majority in the National Assembly and has therefore found it difficult to approve projects of interest to his government - in semi-presidential France, the president depends on a prime minister appointed by parliament to ensure governability.

The new elections are scheduled for June 30 and July 7. The vote does not affect Macron's stay in office. He remains president until 2027.

This is the first time since 1997 that a president has dissolved the National Assembly in France - the last time was under the right-wing government of Jacques Chirac. Back then, however, it was the left that emerged victorious, forcing Chirac to govern with rivals until the end of his term.