The gap between the two candidates is much smaller than it was five years ago. At that time, Macron won the second round against Le Pen with 66%. The turnout this time was 72.4 percent. The result after the full count of the remaining votes was still expected that night or Monday morning.
Macron announced that he would treat the French on an equal footing in his next term. “We also have to be benevolent and respectful,” Macron said in front of hundreds of supporters in Paris on Sunday night. “Because our country is in deep doubt and division. We must be strong, but no one is left out.”
In the second round, the liberal Macron also received votes from people who did not support his policies but wanted to prevent an electoral victory for the right. He explicitly thanked them in his speech. Macron was repeatedly accused of being arrogant and condescending towards the French. During the election campaign he tried to get rid of that image.
The 44-year-old promised voters of his populist right-wing competitor Marine Le Pen that they would be considerate. There must be “answers” to his “anger and dissenting views,” Macron said in his first speech after re-election. “I am the president of all,” Macron emphasized.
Le Pen, who lost for the third time in a presidential election, is struggling despite his electoral defeat. “The game is not over, there are still parliamentary elections,” she said in the evening before her supporters in Paris.
His election result was a “sounding victory,” Le Pen said, referring to the result five years ago. At that time, she had lost to Macron by almost 34%.
During the election campaign, Macron promised reforms and greater EU integration after his first term was overshadowed by the yellow vest protests, the coronavirus pandemic and, most recently, the war in Ukraine. With war and inflation out of control, Macron faces enormous challenges in his second five-year term.
For many French and moderate Europeans, the victory of the pro-European politician is a relief. An election victory for Le Pen would seriously compromise Franco-German cooperation and set off a Brexit-like political earthquake in the EU.
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen congratulated Macron via Twitter. “For our common European future in peace and unity – my heartfelt congratulations to @EmmanuelMacron on his re-election as President of France!” Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) also tweeted: “Congratulations @EmmanuelMacron on your re-election! This is a strong pro-European signal. I look forward to continuing our good cooperation, especially during the French Presidency! #EU2022FR.”
European Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) congratulated Macron and wrote in a statement to the APA: “The election in France is a positive sign for the future viability of the EU and, at the same time, a mandate. from security and energy to the expansion of the Western Balkans – move forward and work together intensively.”
SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner wrote: “I am happy to hear that #France is still on Europe’s side when it comes to mastering key tasks of the future. An important vote for us today in France. Europe breathes relieved .” NEOS club president Beate Meinl-Reisinger is also delighted. “Emmanuel Macron’s victory is a victory for freedom and for Europe,” she wrote. NEOS member of parliament Helmut Brandstätter tweeted: “Soulagé: So relieved. But 42% of voters in France voted for a right-wing extremist who wants to destroy Europe along with dictator Putin during the war. Macron has a lot to do.” do there”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated Macron and said on Twitter that the French “sent a strong commitment to Europe”. In an unusual step, Scholz, together with the heads of government of Spain and Portugal, sent the French for re-election opa”.
EU Council President Charles Michel also congratulated Macron. “In these turbulent times, we need a strong Europe and a France fully committed to a more sovereign and strategic European Union,” Michel wrote. The EU can now count on France for another five years. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, also congratulated.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated him via Twitter, calling Macron a “true friend”. He thanked them for their support in the fight against Russia’s war of aggression against his country.
It is the first time that a French president has been confirmed in office since Jacques Chirac was re-elected in 2002. Chirac’s successors Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande were elected for just one term.
French leftist populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon described Le Pen’s electoral defeat as “good news for the unity of our country”. However, Macron is “the worst-performing president of the fifth republic,” Mélenchon said. “He’s surfing a sea of non-voters and abstentions,” he said.
Mélenchon was considered the king in the second round after placing third in the first round with 22 percent. He didn’t ask for votes for Le Pen, but he didn’t explicitly ask for Macron to be elected either.
Former far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour called for a coalition of nationalists. “We have to forget about fighting and unite,” he said in Paris. He sees the spotlight in his Reconquete party! (regain). Zemmour had temporarily overtaken Le Pen during the election campaign, but ended up in fourth place with 7% on the first ballot.
In the second round, nearly 49 million voters were asked to choose between Macron and Le Pen. Macron, 44, and his wife Brigitte went to the polls in Le Touquet on the English Channel. Le Pen, 53, voted from his stronghold of Henin-Beaumont in northern France.