France’s Macron calls snap election after defeat in EU vote

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday that he was dissolving the National Assembly and calling a snap legislative election after his party suffered a heavy defeat in elections for the European Parliament, the Associated Press reported.

“I’ve decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly,” Macron said in an address to the nation from the Elysee presidential palace.

The vote will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, he added.

The far-right National Rally is projected to win the EU election in France with 31.5 percent of the vote—more than twice that of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, which scored only 15.2 percent.