Paris(CNN) Emmanuel Macron will win France’s presidential election, pollsters project, fending off a historic challenge from far-right candidate Marine Le Pen during Sunday’s runoff vote.
Macron is projected to take 58.8% of the vote, according to an analysis of voting data by pollsters Ipsos & Sopra Steria conducted for broadcasters France Televisions and Radio, making him the first French leader to be reelected in 20 years.
While the contest was a rematch of the 2017 French presidential runoff, much of Europe watched the election with unease. A Le Pen presidency would have fundamentally changed France’s relationship with the European Union and the West, at a time when the bloc and its allies rely on Paris to take a leading role in confronting some of the world’s biggest challenges — most notably, the war in Ukraine. (CNN)