Europe must come up with a convincing response

In the end, French President Emmanuel Macron's gamble of dissolving parliament and calling for early elections paid off. It led to the defeat of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who expected her party to gain an absolute majority in the snap elections and believed she had a clear path to becoming France's first far-right president. Macron's risk forced French voters to confront their responsibilities, triggering an unprecedented political alert that brought seven out of 10 citizens to the polls for the first time since the 1980s.

Democratic forces collaborated in the runoff vote, blocking the far-right's path to power. Despite the demagogue Le Pen softening her stance, renouncing her close ties with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, and promising benefits and an even more generous welfare state, she could not deceive them.

It is now only a matter of time before a...