French President Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected in the second round of Sunday’s presidential election for the next five years, convincingly ahead of his rival, far-right candidate Marina Le Pen.
Preliminary results after counting all the bulletins show that Makron won 58.5% of the vote and Lepena 41.45%.
As a result, Macron’s advantage is significantly lower than five years ago, when he won 66.1% of the vote in the second round of the presidential election and 33.9% of the vote.
In the first round of elections, two weeks ago, with a total of 12 candidates, Macron received 27.85% of the vote and Lepena with 23.15%.
In his victory speech on Sunday night, Macron admitted that many voters voted for him because they did not want Lepena to take office.
Addressing supporters at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Macron promised to unite a society with “so much doubt, so much division.”
“No one will be left on the roadside,” the president stressed.
“We have a lot to do, and the war in Ukraine reminds us that we are going through tragic times when France needs to make its voice heard,” Macron said.
Lepena, for his part, said that despite losing the election, he considered his result a brilliant victory. The Lepena-led National Union has so far failed so well in the presidential election.
Makron has already been congratulated by European Union (EU) leaders and European leaders on his victory.
“I am pleased to be able to continue our excellent cooperation,” wrote Urzula von der Leiena, President of the European Commission (EC), on Twitter. “Together, we will move France and the European Union forward.”
“We can count on France for the next five years,” European Council President Charles Michel echoed.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called Macron’s re-election a “vote of confidence in Europe”.
“Emanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential election is great news for the whole of Europe,” said Italian Prime Minister Mario Dragi.
“France is one of our closest and most important allies,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “I look forward to further cooperation on issues that are important to our countries and the world.”
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