Islam Times - Macron May Trigger France’s Exit from EU: EU Official

Islam Times - French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the country’s parliament and hold snap elections could trigger France’s exit from the European Union (EU).

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said in an interview with The Telegraph newspaper on Saturday that Macron’s hopes of beating the far-right National Rally (RN) party in the elections are very risky.

"I don’t think (the leader of the RN’s parliamentary faction, Marine) Ms Le Pen and (president of RN party, Jordan) Mr Bardella changed their minds. They are still anti-European," Barnier said, Sputnik reported.

On June 9, Macron announced the dissolution of the French parliament’s lower house and the holding of two-round snap parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7.

The decision was made in the wake of the European Parliament elections in which the National Rally party emerged victorious, finishing with over 15 percentage points ahead of Macron’s centrist coalition.