French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a sudden election following a significant defeat for his camp against the far-right National Rally party in the European Union’s parliamentary election. The surprising decision comes amid widespread gains by far-right parties in European Parliament elections, causing concern among governments across the continent.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking from the Elysee presidential palace on Sunday, declared, “I’ve decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly.” The election will be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.

Meanwhile, in Belgium, poor general election results prompted Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to announce his resignation. “For us, it was a particularly difficult evening, we lost,” an emotional De Croo expressed to his supporters at a rally. “From tomorrow, I will be a resigning Prime Minister.”

In Germany, support for Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats declined to a projected 14 percent, trailing behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, which surged into second place.

Macron announced a snap election after the first projected results from France put the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union’s parliamentary election, handing a chastening loss to Mr Macron’s pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.