Emmanuel Macron re-elected: France’s president defeated Marine Le Pen

Paris. – on the ballot with the highest abstention in several decades, French President Emmanuel MacronShe retained power and will continue to lead the second largest European economy after her victory in the second round of the presidential election over the leader of the national group Marine Le Pen by 58.2%.

The French went to the polls This Sunday to choose between the acting presidentMacron and far-right leader Le Pen. Before the results were announced, Macron was already the preferred candidate, but the far-right leader was closer to the presidency than ever, in his third electoral contest for executive power in France.

Moments after the results were announced, Le Pen expressed his gratitude to his voters. Millions of people have decided to change, I want to thank those who voted for meShe said.

“I feel hopeful because this result is a testament to the great confidence of the French people who are looking forward to change,” he added.

a) yes, France chose to continue with a pro-European leaderwho also became the first to win re-election since 2002 when conservative Jacques Chirac defeated the father of his far-right rival Jean-Marie Le Pen on Sunday.

Macron’s victory pushes away the boycott project for the 53-year-old National Rally candidate, which called for the exclusion of foreigners from social assistance by including “national priority” in the constitution And abandoning the integrated leadership of NATO.

But despite warnings of the extremist “danger”, the far right has not stopped advancing in every election since 2002 and with an estimated 41.8% to 42.4% of the vote, Le Pen achieved his best result.

Between 27.8% and 29.8% of the French did not vote, an unprecedented level of abstention since 1969 (31.3%).

On Sunday, the heads of European institutions congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron on his victory in the presidential elections in his country, which gives him a second five-year term.

“We can count on France for another five years.”European Council President Charles Michel said on Twitter, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: “I am delighted that we can continue our excellent cooperation.”

For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his congratulations to Macron. “We look forward to continuing our work together on the issues most important to people in Canada and France, from defending democracy to fighting climate change, creating good jobs and economic growth for the middle class,” he said.

Macron’s margin of victory was much narrower than it was five years ago, when the president beat Le Pen by more than 30 percentage points. Among the factors contributing to the far-right leader’s rise are her efforts to soften her image – albeit not her platform – people’s frustration with the economic situation, and public malaise, for which the French often blame the ruling party. .