France’s Macron has now officially and unexpectedly dissolved the French parliament

President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the lower house of France's parliament in a surprise announcement on Sunday following the dominance of far-right parties in France and other countries in the European Parliament elections.

This move sends French voters back to the polls in the coming weeks, with legislative elections scheduled in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.

The announcement followed initial projected results from France, which showed the far-right National Rally party significantly ahead in the European Union's parliamentary elections, dealing a blow to Macron's pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.

Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration, nationalist party was estimated to secure about 31 to 32 percent of the votes — a historic result more than double the share of Macron's Renaissance party, projected to reach about 15 percent.

France is electing 81 members of the European Parliament, which has 720 seats in total.

Macron himself was not a candidate in the EU elections, and his term as president still has three more years remaining.

He described the decision as "serious" but expressed his "confidence in our democracy, in letting the sovereign people have their say."