Breathe sigh of relief

EU leaders breathe sigh of relief after Macron’s election win

France reelects strongly pro-EU president with 58.5 percent of the vote.

BY VICTOR JACK

European leaders rushed to congratulate French President Emmanuel Macron for winning a second term Sunday, after an election that presented two radically opposing visions of the EU.

European Council President Charles Michel and Commision President Ursula von der Leyen were quick to applaud Macron and link the 44-year-old’s reelection to the bloc’s future. “In this turbulent period, we need a solid Europe and a France totally committed to a more sovereign and more strategic European Union,” Michel wrote on Twitter. “Together, we will move France and Europe forward,” von der Leyen added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was one of the first national leaders to congratulate Macron, saying that the election result “sent a strong commitment to Europe” — while Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the outcome was “wonderful news” for the whole Continent. The French president will travel to Berlin to meet Scholz for his first post-election visit, according to Le Monde, as he did in 2017.

Macron won 58.5 percent of the vote Sunday in the decisive second round of the French presidential election, while his opponent, the far-right Marine Le Pen, took 41.5 percent.

One of Europe’s fiercest advocates, Macron placed a stronger, more independent EU — and the bloc’s so-called strategic autonomy — at the heart of his political agenda. In contrast, while Le Pen backtracked on former pledges to exit the euro and leave the EU, the National Rally leader had promised to radically alter the bloc and transform it into a looser “Europe of nations” if elected president.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his Portuguese counterpart António Costa also congratulated Macron on his win, saying his victory was a strong signal of support for the EU. “The citizens have chosen a France committed to a free, strong and fair EU,” Sánchez wrote on Twitter.

During his victory speech, the French president said his reelection was also a triumph for Europe more broadly.

“I want to thank all French people who in the first and then in the second round gave me their confidence to realize our project for a more independent France, for a stronger Europe,” he told a crowd of supporters at the Champ de Mars park, next to the Eiffel Tower.

Other leaders, including Britain’s Boris Johnson, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and China’s Xi Jinping, have also passed on their congratulations to Macron after his victory.