MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Monday said that Russia is attentively observing the rise in the popularity of right-wing parties in Europe after European Parliament elections.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told media, the gains of far-right parties in the European Union prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call snap polls.
“As far as we can see, the majority will be pro-European and pro-Ukrainian… but we see the trend of rising popularity of right-wing parties,” he said.
He added currently pro-Europeans have retained their leadership positions, but the right-wing parties will be treading on their heels and Russia is attentively observing these processes.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman when asked to make a statement on Macron’s decision to call surprise elections after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally criticized his liberal party, Peskov said Russia would not like to interfere in the domestic matters of any state.
However, he said Moscow would also be closely watching this vote due to the French leadership’s extremely unfriendly and even hostile attitude toward Russia.
Le Pen has historic pro-Russia links but has distanced her party from Moscow since the launch of the Ukraine war in February 2022. She has, however, denounced the scale of military assistance that Macron wants to give to Kyiv.
Results from the EU parliamentary polls held on June 6-9 continue to come in as citizens of the 27-member bloc voted to elect representatives in the 720-member European Parliament for the next five years.
The official results of the EU parliamentary elections will be announced later on Monday, as the first General Assembly is scheduled to meet on July 16.
