PARIS (AP) \u2014 French President Emmanuel Macron comfortably won a second term Sunday, triggering relief among allies that the nuclear-armed power won\u2019t abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine from European Union and NATO efforts to punish and contain Russia\u2019s military expansionism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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, Macron\u2019s presidential runoff challenger who quickly conceded defeat but still scored her best-ever electoral showing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acknowledging that \u201cnumerous\u201d voters cast ballots for him simply to keep out the fiercely nationalist far-right Le Pen, Macron pledged to reunite the country that is \u201cfilled with so many doubts, so many divisions\u201d and work to assuage the anger of French voters that fed Le Pen\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one will be left by the side of the road,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a lot to do and the war in Ukraine reminds us that we are going through tragic times where France must make its voice heard,\u201d Macron said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her campaign, Le Pen pledged to dilute French ties with the 27-nation EU, NATO and Germany, moves that would have shaken Europe\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A chorus of European leaders hailed Macron\u2019s victory, since France has played a leading role in international efforts to punish Russia with sanctions and is supplying weapons to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDemocracy wins, Europe wins,\u201d said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTogether we will make France and Europe advance,\u201d tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Italian Premier Mario Draghi called Macron\u2019s victory \u201csplendid news for all of Europe\u201d and a boost to the EU \u201cbeing a protagonist in the greatest challenges of our times, starting with the war in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron won with 58.5% of the vote to Le Pen\u2019s 41.5% \u2014 significantly closer than when they first faced off in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron is the first French president in 20 years to win reelection, since incumbent Jacques Chirac trounced Le Pen\u2019s father in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Le Pen called her result \u201ca shining victory,\u201d saying that \u201cin this defeat, I can\u2019t help but feel a form of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She and hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of 10 candidates eliminated in the first round on April 10, both quickly pitched forward Sunday night to France\u2019s legislative election in June, urging voters to give them a parliamentary majority to hamstring Macron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Le Pen\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Le Pen voter Jean-Marie Cornic, 78, said he cast his ballot for her because he wanted a president who would prioritize \u201cour daily lives \u2014 salaries, taxes, pensions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leftist voters \u2014 unable to identify with either the centrist president or Le Pen \u2014 agonized with Sunday\u2019s choice. Some trooped reluctantly to polling stations solely to stop Le Pen, casting joyless votes for Macron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was the least worst choice,\u201d said Stephanie David, a transport logistics worker who backed a communist candidate in round one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an impossible choice for retiree Jean-Pierre Roux. Having also voted communist in round one, he dropped an empty envelope into the ballot box on Sunday, repelled both by Le Pen\u2019s politics and what he saw as Macron\u2019s arrogance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am not against his ideas but I cannot stand the person,\u201d Roux said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In contrast, Marian Arbre, voting in Paris, cast his ballot for Macron \u201cto avoid a government that finds itself with fascists, racists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a real risk,\u201d the 29-year-old fretted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron went into the vote as the firm favorite but faced a fractured, anxious and tired electorate. The war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic battered Macron\u2019s first term, as did months of violent protests against his economic policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In celebrating victory, Macron acknowledged a debt to voters who helped get him over the line, \u201cnot to support the ideas I hold, but to block those of the extreme right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to thank them and tell them that I am aware that their vote obliges me for the years to come,\u201d he said. \u201cI am the custodian of their sense of duty, of their attachment to the Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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