With just six weeks to go before France's presidential election, the outbreak of war in Ukraine is shaking up an already bizarre campaign, with candidates forced to roll with the punches and adjust, or even justify, their schedules on the stump.
No presidential campaign in French history has ever seemed so captive to world events and yet so ancillary as the race approaches. The incumbent has yet to declare his bid for re-election, preoccupied as he is with the conflict now raging in Europe, leaving a slew of candidates shadowboxing without a headline adversary. And a French electorate beleaguered by the lingering Covid-19 pandemic has yet to fully take an interest in the awkward contest for the country's top job.
