(Reuters) The French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) of Marine Le Pen kicked off the party’s campaign for the European elections in June on Sunday saying the vote will be a referendum on immigration.
Opinion polls show RN is set to make large gains in the elections — some polls crediting it with 28%-30% support — and that it could pose a major challenge to France’s mainstream parties, including President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance.
“It is quite clear these elections on June 9 are a referendum against being submerged by migrants,” RN President Jordan Bardella, 28, who will lead the RN in the elections, told the party’s first campaign rally in the southern port city of Marseille.
