Europe

Axios - Europe's far right gained historic ground in continent-wide elections yesterday, with devastating losses forcing French President Emmanuel Macron to concede that the threat from nationalists can no longer be ignored, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.....The center held in some countries. But a surge by the extremist right has pro-democracy parties on notice. As in the U.S., immigration, inflation and threats to democracy dominated the campaign, which was plagued by spurts of political violence in the final weeks before the election.

• Conservative and hard-right parties gained ground at the expense of Macron-aligned liberal and Green parties — with the latter suffering from backlash to the EU's aggressive climate transition plans.
• Extremist-right parties such as Germany's AfD continue to make significant inroads with young voters, according to exit polls, a trend that has alarmed pro-democracy activists.

In France, Macron stunned Europe last night by announcing he would hold new legislative elections later this month — three years early, and in the middle of preparations for the Paris Olympics."The rise of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for our nation and for Europe," Macron said. "After this day, I cannot go on as though nothing has happened."

In Germany, the EU's biggest and most important country, the far-right AfD party finished second to the conservatives — but ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats.

In Italy, right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni solidified her cult of personality with a comfortable victory that will make her one of the EU's most powerful leaders — and a potential conservative king-maker.

In the Netherlands, anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders came in close second to a progressive coalition after pulling off a shock victory in November's national elections.