MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. The course of parliamentary elections in France does not very much resemble democracy, the second round was designed to manipulate the will of voters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin. The video was published in the telegram channel of the journalist.

"Let’s take another democracy - France. The first round of parliamentary elections has passed, and they have two rounds. Moreover, the second round, apparently, was conceived precisely in order to manipulate the will of voters during the first round," Lavrov said.

"When some candidates can withdraw their candidacies - they are talked into it to clear the way for the victory of, as they say, conservatives or populists. This is not very reminiscent of democracy," the minister stressed.

"Because the result of public opinion is direct expression of will. And this result is known. If the results of the first round were the basis for the formation of parliament, there would be very serious changes in France," Lavrov added.

On June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly after the defeat of his supporters in the elections to the European Parliament. According to the results of the first round of early elections to the National Assembly, held on June 30, the National Rally party came out ahead with 33% of the votes. The leftist alliance New Popular Front received 28% of the vote, while the presidential coalition Together for the Republic received 20% of the vote. The turnout in the first round, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was 66.7%, which is the highest figure since 1997.

The voting results will be summed up after the closing of the last polling stations at 08:00 p.m. (06:00 p.m. GMT). The French electoral code strictly bans on the publication of exit polls or any other forecasts before the end of voting. Violation of this prohibition is subject to a fine of up to 75,000 euros.