French President Emmanuel Macron comfortably won a second term Sunday, triggering relief among allies that the nuclear-armed power wonât abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine from European Union and NATO efforts to punish and contain Russiaâs military expansionism.
The second five-year term for the 44-year-old centrist spared France and Europe from the seismic upheaval of having firebrand populist Marine Le Pen at the helm, Macronâs presidential runoff challenger who quickly conceded defeat but still scored her best-ever electoral showing.
Acknowledging that ânumerousâ voters cast ballots for him simply to keep out the fiercely nationalist far-right Le Pen, Macron pledged to reunite the country that is âfilled with so many doubts, so many divisionsâ and work to assuage the anger of French voters that fed Le Penâs campaign.
âNo one will be left by the side of the road,â Macron said in a victory speech against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower and a projection of the blue-white-and-red tricolor French flag. He was cheered by several hundred supporters who happily waved French and EU flags.
During her campaign, Le Pen pledged to dilute French ties with the 27-nation EU, NATO and Germany, moves that would have shaken Europeâs security architecture as the continent deals with its worst conflict since World War II. Le Pen also spoke against EU sanctions on Russian energy supplies and faced scrutiny during the campaign over her previous friendliness with the Kremlin.
Macron won with 58.5% of the vote to Le Penâs 41.5% â significantly closer than when they first faced off in 2017.
Macron is the first French president in 20 years to win reelection, since incumbent Jacques Chirac trounced Le Penâs father in 2002.
Le Pen called her result âa shining victory,â saying that âin this defeat, I canât help but feel a form of hope.â
Breaking through the threshold of 40% of the vote is unprecedented for the French far-right. Le Pen was beaten 66% to 34% by Macron in 2017 and her father got less than 20% against Chirac.
A chorus of European leaders hailed Macronâs victory, since France has played a leading role in international efforts to punish Russia with sanctions and is supplying weapons to Ukraine.
âDemocracy wins, Europe wins,â said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro SĂĄnchez.
âTogether we will make France and Europe advance,â tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Le Penâs score this time rewarded her years-long efforts to make her far-right politics more palatable to voters. Campaigning hard on cost-of-living issues, she made deep inroads among blue-collar voters in disaffected rural communities and in former industrial centers.
Le Pen voter Jean-Marie Cornic, 78, said he cast his ballot for her because he wanted a president who would prioritize âour daily lives â salaries, taxes, pensions.â
The drop in support for Macron compared to five years ago points to a tough battle ahead for the president to rally people behind him in his second term. Many French voters found the 2022 presidential rematch less compelling than in 2017, when Macron was an unknown factor.