French president François Hollande has officially supported his former adviser and ex-economy minister, the leader of the En Marche! movement Emmanuel Macron in the second round of presidential elections, who topped the first round of the election (23.86% of votes), leaving behind the Front National leader Marine Le Pen with 21.43% of votes. Express writes in the article titled 'French Election: World reacts as Le Pen and Macron get set to battle for presidency' that pro-European figures rushed to congratulate Mr Macron, who has never held elected office but was Economy minister in France’s socialist government.
EU Commission president Jean-Claude Junker congratulated Mr Macron and wished him “good luck” in the May 7 run-off. Chief EU Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, tweeted: “Patriot and European, I will put my trust in Emmanuel Macron on May 7. France must remain European!” In the UK, former Chancellor George Osbourne congratulated Mr Macron in a late-night tweet. He wrote: “Congratulations to my friend @EmmanuelMacron. Proof you can win from the centre. At last, the chance for the leadership that France needs!” Other leading political figures such as German chancellor Angela Merkel and Denmark’s prime minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen offered their best wishes to the former banker.
But other figures threw their support behind Ms Le Pen. Dutch Eurosceptic MP Geert Wilders welcomed Ms Le Pen’s victory as a "bright day for patriots in France and elsewhere who want more national sovereignty and less EU and immigration”. He added: “I have just sent her my sincere congratulations. Now on the way to a vigorous second round, I am hoping for a President Le Pen.” And former Ukip leader Nigel Farage hit out at Europhile Macron during his victory speech, tweeting: “Macron speaking with EU flag behind him. Says it all.”
In France, the press was quick to issue their verdicts on the vote in their first editions. Right-leaning daily newspaper Le Figaro ran with the headline: “The Right knocked out”, with an editorial branding the poll “an immense waste”. Left-supporting newspaper Liberation’s front page featured a picture of a hopeful-looking Mr Macron with the headline: “Présidentielle: One step away.” But hard-left daily paper L’Humanité, which was formerly aligned with France’s Communist Party, ran simply with a black-and-white photo of Ms Le Pen with the headline: “Never.”
Moscow did not hide its disappointment with the results of the first round of French elections. "The results have become predictable after a special effort was made to knock François Fillon out of the presidential race. The only French politician who could block Macron in the second round was François Fillon. Supporters of continuity, the liberal camp and the overwhelming majority of the media made a bet on Macron and on defeating Fillon already before the first round started," the chairman of the Federation Council Committee for information policy and cooperation with the media, Alexei Pushkov, said.
In his opinion, the results of the second round are predictable: "First, no public opinion poll has ever showed Marine Le Pen winning in the second round. Second, right now the right and left sectors are unifying against Marine Le Pen. Leaders of all political parties are urging to vote for Macron, not because he is a good one, but as an alternative to Marine Le Pen. "
Pushkov described Macron's victory as the victory of Obama, Clinton, Merkel, the current leadership of the European Union: "His candidacy absolutely suits all these politicians. He is a person representing liberal circles, banking capital, major French patronage, business leaders and those forces currently leading the European Union. No surprises should be expected from Macron. France's foreign policy will be identical to its policy under Hollande. France will be in the shadow of Germany. Macron will not be able to be an independent person in the presence of such leaders as Jean-Claude Juncker and Angela Merkel. Foreign policy will not have the degree of independence within the Western alliance, which it had under Chirac, Giscard d'Estaing, Mitterrand, not to mention De Gaulle. That is, the changes that Macron promises to France will not happen precisely because he was chosen by those who want preserve the status quo, but not changes.
