Emmanuel Macron is heading for victory over far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election on a pro-business, pro-European Union platform, bolstering the bloc in the midst of its worst security crisis in decades.
With counting still underway, projections by France’s five main pollsters put Macron on course to win more than 57% of the vote in Sunday’s runoff compared with 42% for Le Pen. The nationalist leader conceded defeat in a speech to her supporters in Paris.
The 44-year-old Macron becomes the first incumbent to win a second term since Jacques Chirac two decades ago. With campaigning shaped by the war in Ukraine, Macron’s pledge to make France a cornerstone of a stronger, more integrated EU won out over the nativism and protectionism championed by Le Pen.
