Re-elected president of France this Sunday (24), Emmanuel Macron made nods to other political fields and promised changes in his second term. “It will be difficult but historic years,” he said in a speech lasting about 10 minutes on the Champs de Mars in Paris.
Macron defeated the far-right Marine Le Pen. At 0:30 am on Monday (25), local time, still 7:30 pm on Sunday in Brasília, the official count had already been 97% completed and pointed to the current president with 57.4% of the votes. Abstention was 27.6%, one of the highest in decades.
In the beginning of the afternoon, the projection of research institutes indicated the reelection of the politician, with the rival admitting the defeat 15 minutes later.
The moment of the announcement was one of celebration and relief in the Eiffel Tower region of the French capital, where Macron’s supporters gathered. Messages of support also came from European leaders – according to the Élysée Palace, the first phone call after the release of the projections was with German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz.
At around 9:30 pm in Paris, the re-elected president arrived on the field of Mars with his wife, Brigitte, under the song that is considered the anthem of the European Union, “Ode to Joy”, an excerpt from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
In a speech of less than ten minutes, he thanked voters, even mentioning those who “voted for me not because they support my ideas, but to block the far right.” To them, she said, “I want to say that I am aware that this vow holds me for years to come.”
Macron acknowledged that France emerged from the election as a divided country, but vowed: “No one will be left behind.”
The speeches make it clear that the president suffered from a series of wear and tear in his first term, allowing the advancement of anti-system names – in the first round, behind the defeated rival this Sunday, were the radical leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the ultra-rightist Eric Zemmour, ahead of the names of the more traditional political parties, the Socialist and the Republicans.
The name he assumed as a radical centrist, with time moving towards the center-right, made waves to the left also during the campaign in the second round, towards the voters of Mélenchon, who had a real chance of overtaking Le Pen.
When Macron mentioned the name of his rival, part of the audience who watched him began to boo, even suggesting that the defeated move to Moscow – his connection with Vladimir Putin’s Russia was repeated throughout the campaign and used by the rival in the only debate between both.
In the speech, however, Macron stopped talking to ask that she not be booed. “From now on, I am not the candidate of one party, but the president of all and all.”
In the end, Macron said that his next term will not be a continuity, but he spoke of five better years for the country and for young people. And he announced that he will work for a republican France, more committed to social and green values.
At the end, moved, he invited his wife to go on stage and heard a singer sing the French anthem, La Marseillaise.
Re-elected receives messages of support and collection
As soon as the projection of Macron’s re-election was released, European leaders began sending messages congratulating the Frenchman. Le Pen, it is worth remembering, is a staunch anti-Europeanist – if, in this 2022, she did not promise to take the country out of the European Union, she stated that she intended to “reform the bloc from within”.
Scholz, Spanish Pedro Sánchez and Portuguese António Costa even wrote an article in the French newspaper Le Monde this week, asking for a vote for their colleague.
European Council President Charles Michel was the first to congratulate Macron in a tweet. “In this turbulent period, we need a solid Europe and France fully committed to a more sovereign and strategic EU,” he wrote.
He was followed by the premiers of Belgium, Alexander de Croo, and the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, and Britain’s Boris Johnson. “I hope to continue working together on the most important issues for our two countries and for the world,” said Boris, who has had recent friction with France over Brexit and the issue of refugees in the English Channel.
Sánchez and Italian Mario Draghi also celebrated Macron’s re-election – the latter called the news “wonderful for the whole of Europe”.
“I am delighted to be able to continue our excellent cooperation. Together we will move France and Europe forward,” Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, wrote on Twitter. France’s Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, highlighted “the strong leadership of Macron, essential in these uncertain times”.
The Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the re-elected calling him a “true friend”. Macron sought a leading role in diplomatic negotiations throughout the Ukraine War.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), as well as Itamaraty, had not commented on the French election until 8 pm this Sunday. The politician had moments of tension with Macron throughout his term, especially because of the environmental issue.
This Sunday, the Frenchman was still the target of internal charges. Speaking in his speech about having received votes to “block the far right”, Macron also, in a way, aimed at a response to environmentalist Sandrine Rousseu.
As soon as the projections indicated reelection, she demanded the president. “I think the question is ‘does he realize he was elected with leftist votes? Is he conscious?'” he asked. “We were responsible 1,000 times [pelos votos recebidos por ele] in both shifts, but will he change his policy?”
She called on the French to renew the National Assembly in legislative elections, scheduled for June, so that “Macron’s new term does not resemble the previous one and that, in the final analysis, this government is a government of cohabitation”.
