France forward Marcus Thuram has urged his fellow citizens “to fight daily” to prevent the surging nationalist far right from taking power in upcoming snap parliamentary elections in his country.

Thuram spoke during a news conference at the European Championship in Germany on Saturday, two days after teammate Ousmane Dembélé implored people to vote in the elections President Emmanuel Macron has suddenly called.

“I think the situation is sad. It’s very serious,” Thuram said. “I learned about it after (Sunday’s friendly) match against Canada. We were all shocked in the dressing room. It’s the sad reality of our society today … As Ousmane said, we must tell everyone to go and vote. We all need to fight daily so that this doesn’t happen and that the National Rally (party) does not succeed.”

Macron surprised the nation Sunday evening when he called elections for the national assembly after Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration right-wing National Rally made historic gains in the European Parliament elections.

The two rounds of French elections are scheduled for June 30 and July 7 — back-to-back Sundays that could bookend Les Bleus games in the pre-quarter finals and quarter finals of a tournament they are widely predicted to win.

“I hope that everyone shares my opinion in the France team,” Thuram said. “I understand that some players can come here and just say people should vote, but I don’t think that’s enough, you have to also explain how we got here and the seriousness of the situation.”

France open their Euro 2024 campaign against Austria on Monday in Group D.