In the past week, 180 million people voted in elections for the European Union parliament. While the centre-right remains the biggest grouping – and made gains – it was the seats picked up by hard-right parties that captured the headlines.

In France, the far-right National Rally won an unprecedented share of the vote. And President Emmanuel Macron shocked Europe by calling a snap general election.

For today's episode, Katya Adler is wearing her other hat, as the BBC's Europe Editor. As the story unfolds, she takes us from results night in Brussels to a train to Paris to cover the snap election.

You can listen to our previous episode "Fascism in Italy: Has the country moved on from its past?” here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fascism-in-italy-has-the-country-moved-on-from-its-past/id1715473158?i=1000657436379

The Global Story delivers trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

TGS is part of the BBC News Podcasts family. The team that makes The Global Story also makes several other podcasts, such as Americast and Ukrainecast, which cover US news and the war in Ukraine. To find them, simply search on your favourite podcast app.

This episode was made by Richard Moran and Eleanor Sly. The technical producer was Jonny Baker. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

France's snap election: Will President Macron's gamble pay off? 27:05 Share

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France's snap election: Will President Macron's gamble pay off?