A number of world leaders have offered congratulatory messages to leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance for its victory in France’s parliamentary election.
Brazil’s President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva congratulated the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance on its election results.
He posted on X that he was “very happy” with the “demonstration of greatness and maturity” that saw leftist and centrist political forces unite to prevent the election of the far right.
“This result, as well as the victory of the Labour party in the United Kingdom, reinforces the importance of dialogue between progressive segments in defence of democracy and social justice. They should serve as an inspiration for South America.”
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Lula has a personal relationship with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the largest party in the leftwing alliance, France Unbowed, who visited Lula while he was in jail for corruption in 2019.
Lula also met Mélenchon in Paris in 2021 and again in 2023 after being reelected as President.
Similarly, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, noted on social media, “This week, two of the largest countries in Europe have chosen the same path that Spain chose a year ago: rejection of the extreme right and a decisive commitment to a social left that addresses people’s problems with serious and brave policies.”
“The UK and France have said YES to progress and social advancement and NO to the rolling back of rights and freedoms. You don’t govern or do deals with the far right,” he added.
The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, also congratulated the French left and Jean-Luc Mélenchon in particular.
“We congratulate the democratic day in France and the victory of the New Popular Front. Organisation, unity and hope have defeated fear,” Sheinbaum noted.
Additionally, Colombia’s leftwing President, Gustavo Petro, congratulated the French for keeping out Le Pen.
Petro said, “In humanity’s saddest moments, humanity reacts. This is the worldwide revolution for life, liberty and fraternity. Long live France.”
Nikos Androulakis, the head of Greece’s Socialist PASOK party, said that the French people had “raised a wall against the far right, racism and intolerance and guarded the timeless principles of the French Republic: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.”
Warning About Challenges Ahead Issued
German Vice Chancellor, Robert Habeck, welcomed the left’s win against the far right in France but warned that there were challenges ahead.
“We cannot say this went well and tick the checkbox yet,” Habeck said, adding, “We still need to pay close attention to what happens next in France.”
Pedro Nuno Santos, the leader of Portugal’s socialist party, also congratulated the New Popular Front on its victory, but warned that it will now have to beat the far right “in governance and public policies.”
“The New Popular Front won the elections in France. The far right was clearly defeated. As Olivier Faure, the Secretary General of the socialist party, said: “France deserves better than an alternative between neoliberalism and fascism.”
“I congratulate the French left and its unity on this extraordinary result. The best barrier against the extreme right is in the defence and deepening of the social state. United, the left defeated the extreme right at the polls, now it will have to defeat it in governance and public policies.”
Pedro Nuno Santos
Moreover, Bruno Le Maire, French outgoing Economy Minister, published a lengthy post welcoming the election loss of the far right but also warning of several risks ahead.
“The most immediate risk is a financial crisis and France’s economic decline,” he said.
“The second risk is an ideological fracture of the nation,” he added.
Le Maire called for like-minded groups to come together calling for forces that believe in the market economy, recovery of public finances, the energy transition and European project to disengage from partisan interests.
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