Prague, Dec 7 (CTK) – The victory of Marine Le Pen´s nationalist National Front in the first round of the regional election in France on Sunday is yet another warning to Europe, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek (Social Democrats, CSSD) said yesterday.
He said the final result will depend on what strategy the other parties will opt for, yet it shows that Europe must be capable of giving answers to the questions of security that drive voters into the arms of the extreme right.
“I consider it (Le Pen´s victory) not only a warning to the whole of Europe, but also a call for the Czech Republic to behave responsibly,” Zaoralek said.
He said Europe has long hesitated to take fundamental steps that would secure its ability to manage the migrant wave.
Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Belobradek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) said unless the traditional democratic parties pay attention to people´s fears, society may radicalise.
He said the French elections´ result is not surprising. It is a consequence of France´s not much successful immigrant policy over the decades and the recent massacre in Paris.
The National Front won 30 percent of the vote in the first round of the election, followed by the Republicans (27 percent) of former president Nicolas Sarkozy and incumbent President Francois Hollande´s Socialists (23 percent).
The success of Le Pen´s National Front is due to a change of its image from an extreme rightist and racist entity into a nationalist-patriotic anti-European party and the Paris terrorist attacks.
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