Les Bleus unite a divided France ahead of elections

euronews (in English)

As France faces early legislative elections and the rise of the far-right, the French community in Madrid finds unity in the Euro Cup. Amid political tensions, football offers a brief respite, bringing French expatriates together.

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00:00In Madrid, the French community living in Spain gathers to watch their national team's

00:05debut in the Euro Cup.

00:08The sporting event has been overshadowed by the call for early legislative elections following

00:12the defeat of President Emmanuel Macron's party and the victory of the far right.

00:25At the centre of all attention is the star player, Kylian Mbappé, who has called on

00:30the French to go to the polls to vote against the rise of extremism.

00:33He represents a part of France that was in the suburbs and I think that all people in

00:45France have to be uprooted.

00:47At the Madrid consulate, dozens of French citizens come to process their votes.

01:12Marine Le Pen's party won the European elections with more than 30% of the vote.

01:18Some people have been let up from right and left and so the only option they see that

01:26they didn't try yet is the far right.

01:30But in Spain, abstention prevailed.

01:32Only 28.7% of registered French voters went to the polls.

01:36Here, Rassemblement came in third place with 12% of the votes.

01:40So the objective is to make our vote count.

01:44I did for the European elections first but now we notice that there are way more people

01:48doing it because we notice the consequences it had.

01:54Rafael Gullixman's party won in Spain in the last elections with 21% of the vote.

01:59Next to the consulate, Professor Nicolas Rossignol and his colleagues distribute propaganda for

02:03the new popular front.

02:06We don't have a lot of time.

02:08We don't have time to mobilize people but we try.

02:14We try to get more people to vote.

02:19While the French decide the future of their country in crucial elections, the French national

02:23team continues its journey in the Eurocup.

02:26For a moment, they forget their differences, at least until the final whistle blows in

02:30Madrid.

02:35For a moment, they forget their differences, until the final whistle blows in Madrid.

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