Macron decisively wins French presidency: exit polls
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
07.05.2017 20:35
Centrist Emmanuel Macron won the second round of France’s presidential election on Sunday, decisively beating far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen, according to exit polls.
Emmanuel Macron steps out of a voting booth during the French presidential election. Photo: EPA/CHRISTOPHE ENA / POOL
Macron beat Le Pen by some 65 percent to 35 percent, according to several projections made public minutes after polling stations in France shut at 8pm CET.
Macron’s projected victory was greeted with relief by those who feared that a Le Pen triumph would cause a seismic shock in the EU in the aftermath of Britain's referendum vote to leave the bloc.
Brussels, London and Berlin were quick to congratulate Macron on Sunday.
Macron angered top officials in Warsaw when he suggested during his election campaign that Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of Poland's ruling party, is a “friend and ally” of Le Pen, placing Kaczyński alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, a French daily cited Macron as suggesting that he wanted sanctions against Poland, which he said had “violated all the EU's principles”.
While speaking to striking factory workers of multinational white goods manufacturer Whirlpool, which will move some of its production to Poland, Macron accused Poland of playing on differences in labour costs.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski then responded that "unjustified" accusations by Macron against Warsaw stemmed from France’s inability to compete with ever-stronger economies to the east.
(pk)