Scholz and Macron should resign – Russia’s top MP

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have suffered crushing defeats in the European Parliament election and should resign, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has said.

Writing on Telegram on Monday, Volodin weighed in on the preliminary results in the EU parliamentary vote, according to which right-wing forces have made significant strides, rattling more traditional parties.

In France, the right-wing National Rally party, associated with Marine Le Pen, is estimated to have received around 32% of the vote, while Macron’s Besoin d’Europe coalition is projected to have won just 15%. The result has prompted the French president to announce a snap parliamentary election.

In Germany, Scholz’s Social Democrats scored their worst result in decades with 14% of the vote, according to projections. Meanwhile, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to finish second with an estimated 15% of the vote, trailing the center-right CDU/CSU alliance, which is estimated to have won around 30%.

At the same time, the center-right European People’s Party appears set to remain the largest political group in the EU parliament. As exit poll data continued to trickle in, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to “build a bastion against the extremes of the left and the right.” 

Summing up the projected results of the election, Volodin claimed that Macron and Scholz – whom he called a “disgrace to Europe” – have “lost big time.” He argued that the disappointing performance of Macron’s bloc was a sign of the “collapse” of the French president’s policies. Macron has effectively acknowledged this by dissolving the National Assembly, Volodin added.

Meanwhile, Scholz’s ruling coalition “has lost the support” of German voters, with the opposition already demanding a vote of no confidence in the government or snap elections, Volodin noted.

“Macron and Scholz are clinging to power with the last bit of their strength. The right thing for them to do would be to resign and stop victimizing the citizens of their states.” 

He also argued that the projected election results in France and Germany were “predictable,” claiming that they stem from economic stagnation, the migrant crisis, and EU states’ increasing involvement in the Ukraine conflict, which Volodin said is contrary to their national interests.