From Macron’s bombshell news to the ‘ultra’ parties: the front pages of European newspapers

Future scenarios highlighted in the German Die Zeit which questions who will determine the center of Europe and Meloni's role

ROME – From Emmanuel Macron’s “bombshell” to the advance of the “ultra” right, passing through the role of Giorgia Meloni, decisive in defining the “centre” of Europe: many ideas on the front pages of European newspapers in the aftermath of the vote in the 27 EU countries. Looking from the outside, at least in terms of the Union’s borders, is the British broadcaster BBC. “The European night of electoral drama is crowned by Macron’s bombshell news” is the headline at the start of the web, with reference to the French president’s decision to call early elections after his party was doubled in terms of votes by right of the Rassemblement National (Rn).

This is a story that obviously dominates the front pages of Paris. “After the announcement of the dissolution, the big maneuvers begin” headlines Le Monde on the end of the legislature. Then space for maneuvers, with “live” updates: highlighting the appeals of socialists and communists to create “a popular front”, a reference to anti-fascist experiences of the past, now in an anti-Rassemblement National key. Another newspaper, Le Figaro, opens with Macron’s words: “My only ambition”, says the president, “is to be useful to our country that I love so much”.

Future scenarios, but within an EU framework, highlighted in the German Die Zeit. “Who will determine the center of Europe?” the question mark at the beginning. The answer lies in the subtitle: “Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni: their actions will demonstrate how selfish the EU wants to be in the future and what it represents”. Other insights from Faz, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. First there is a reflection on the German vote, with the retreat of the ecological forces and the advance of the right of Alternative fur Deutschland, the second party behind the CDU/CSU alliance but ahead of the Social Democrats. “The Greens are losing young voters”, notes the newspaper, “and many of them are voting for the AfD”. However, Italy is also in evidence, with the result of the government coalition and in particular of the Prime Minister’s party. “Meloni”, headlines Faz, “wins by a wide margin”.

Broad reflection also for the Spanish El Pais. “The ultra parties shake the EU”, the newspaper headline on the trials of the right, “but the pro-Europeans maintain the majority”. The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza also refers to the numbers of the European People’s Party and its possible allies for an encore of Ursula von der Leyen at the helm of the EU Commission. There is also room for the outcome of the vote in Warsaw, which is still uncertain. In fact, the newspaper highlights how the Civic Coalition of liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk is ahead of Jaroslaw Kaczynsky’s conservative opposition Law and Justice by just 0.9 percentage points.