After the seismic EU election, France's right wing may be on the verge of an epochal shift.
National Rally is extending a hand to the Republicans – which leader Éric Ciotti is accepting.
The French right, led by National Rally (RN), may be on the verge of allying itself with the traditional right-wing party, the Republicans (LR).
RN leader Jordan Bardella says on Tuesday evening that there is an agreement between RN and LR ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
There will be a number of outgoing or nominated Republican MPs who will be supported (by RN), he says to France 2.
On the TV channel TF1, Éric Ciotti, the leader of the Republicans, earlier in the day confirmed his willingness to join forces with RN.
I wish my political family to go in that direction, he says to the TV channel.
Several Republican MPs are opposing Ciotti's decision, and the Republican group leader Olivier Marleix is even demanding Ciotti's resignation as party leader, he writes on the platform X.
"I am LR"
On his way out of the interview with TF1, Ciotti says it "absolutely won't come into question" that he will resign.
I am LR, I remain LR, I am the leader of LR, he says to the TV channel BFMTV, and underlines that he has broad support from his own party.
RN's Marine Le Pen calls Ciotti's decision "brave" and praises his "sense of responsibility", writes the newspaper Le Monde.
"Ciotti is signing the Munich Agreement", notes France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on X, referring to an agreement signed in 1938 between Hitler and the leaders of the UK, France, and Italy to prevent a major war.
National Rally largest in EU election
RN became the clear largest party in France's EU election, more than twice as large as President Emmanuel Macron's liberal coalition. Macron immediately called for new elections to the National Assembly, where RN could gain more power and a new government with a different party colour than the president's could be formed.
I want to build as large a majority as possible. I believe National Rally can win the election, and therefore I am turning to other political groups and offering them to work with me to form a government of national unity, Bardella says to the French radio channel RTL earlier on Tuesday.
Among the candidates my political movement is supporting in this election, there are not only National Rally. There will also be candidates from the Republicans.
Regardless of the outcome of the forthcoming election, President Macron will remain in place, he says to Figaro Magazine.
Facts: National Rally
National Rally (Rassemblement national) was founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1972 under the name National Front.
Ideologically, the party has its roots in conservative nationalism and fascism.
Since 2011, it has been led by his daughter Marine Le Pen, who has sought to modernise the party's image. The party's anti-immigrant and populist core message remains, however.
In 2015, Jean-Marie Le Pen was expelled from the party, among other things, after calling the Nazi gas chambers "a detail in history".
In 2018, the party changed its name to National Rally.
Marine Le Pen has been President Emmanuel Macron's opponent in the last two presidential elections, but has lost both times.
In this year's EU election, the party won a landslide victory, taking over 30 per cent of the French votes.
Source: National Encyclopedia.
The Republicans (Les Républicains) were previously the traditional largest right-wing party in France and have undergone several transformations and name changes over the years.
The party has its roots in the high nationalist "Gaullism" developed by war hero and ex-President Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970).
Among former presidents from the party are Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.
The party has a broad liberal-conservative profile.
