French President Emmanuel Macron won re-election to a second term, defeating far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. According to projections, centrist Macron was on course to beat his rival by a double-digit margin. Several European leaders swiftly congratulated Macron. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that, together, "we will make France and Europe advance". The Dutch prime minister tweeted his hopes to continue extensive and constructive cooperation in the EU and NATO. "Democracy wins, Europe wins," said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Macron's win comes as a massive relief for all of Europe, tinged with some points of concern, and here are some of the key takeaways from the result:
1. The development comes amid fears of instability in the European continent, struggling with inflation and surging prices of basic necessities amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Le Pen had spoken to the aspirations of rural France, and won landslide victories in now-struggling, former industrial hubs.
2. The far-right has taken a massive step forward. Five years ago, Macron won a sweeping victory over Le Pen to become France's youngest president at 39. The margin is expected to be much smaller this time: Polling agencies Opinionway, Harris and Ifop projected that the 44-year-old pro-European centrist would win at least 57 per cent of the vote. Le Pen was projected to win between 41.5 per cent and 43 per cent support—a still unprecedented result for the 53-year-old on her third attempt to win the French presidency. Breaking through the threshold of 40 per cent of the vote is unprecedented for the French far-right. Le Pen was beaten 66 per cent to 34 per cent by Macron in 2017 and her father got less than 20 per cent against Jacques Chirac in 2002. Le Pen called her results a shining victory, saying that in this defeat, "I can't help but feel a form of hope".
3. Critics fear a threat to democracy under Le Pen, a nationalist who is cozy with Hungary's autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orban, and anti-immigrant far-right parties elsewhere in Europe. Le Pen met with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the 2017 French presidential vote that she lost to Macron in a landslide. The United States has long considered France its oldest ally, but a Le Pen presidency could pose a problem for the Biden administration by undermining trans-Atlantic unity over sanctions against Russia and by bolstering autocratic populists elsewhere in Europe. During her campaign, Le Pen had pledged to dilute French ties with the 27-nation EU, the NATO military alliance and Germany, moves that would have shaken Europe's security architecture as the continent deals with its worst conflict since World War II. Le Pen also spoke out against sanctions on Russian energy supplies and faced scrutiny during the campaign over her previous friendliness with the Kremlin.
4. If Le Pen was elected, France—internally—would have taken a populist and isolationary nationalist turn. Appealing to working-class voters struggling with surging prices, Le Pen vowed that bringing down the cost of living would be her priority. She has focused on the purchasing power of consumers while standing firm on emblematic issues that define the far right, such as immigration, security, national identity and sovereignty. To soften the blow of rising prices, Le Pen wanted to slash taxes on energy bills from 20 per cent to 5.5 per cent. She promised to put 150-200 euros per month back in consumers' pockets. Macron, a former French economy minister and banker, considered such measures misdirected and economically unviable. Le Pen insisted that her agenda addresses the France of the forgotten that he has ignored. She has proposed a referendum revolution as the centerpiece of her plan to help heal the democratic fracture that she said accounted for low turnout in recent French elections and growing social discord. Laws could be passed by referendum bypassing elected lawmakers—after supporters gather the signatures of 500,000 eligible voters, That was a demand of the sometimes violent yellow vest movement that challenged Macron's presidency two years ago.
