The recent European elections yielded some significant gains for hard-right parties in a number of countries. Today, we’ll be focusing on Germany, Italy, and France, and whether these shifts are game-changers or more political minutia.

The weak coalition government under Chancellor Scholz has greatly diminished Germany’s role leadership role in Europe. The Italian right wing leader, Giorgia Meloni, solidified her position at the table in the recent elections. France is the one we all need to pay attention to.

President Macron’s party underperformed at the polls, which led him to call snap elections. Macron is gambling that the far-right movement will fall flat on its face when a bit of pressure is applied…but if he’s wrong and the snap elections go the other way, France might be getting some updates to their government.

So keep an eye on the French, but let’s not get too worried just yet. There’s a slew of levels to this and altering the power dynamics of Europe will take more than French snap elections.