France, two months ahead of the presidential election…Macron, the leader, focuses on diplomacy.

7-8 Day poll Macron support 26% … Second place competition between far-right and right-wing candidates

Republican and Socialist party ready-made presidential candidates meet the registration conditions

French President Emmanuel Macron

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(Paris=Yonhap News) Hyun Hye-ran correspondent = Two months ahead of France’s next presidential election, President Emmanuel Macron has spent most of his recent time on the international diplomatic stage.

Fearing that Russia might invade Ukraine, he flew to Moscow and Kiev to seek mediation between the two leaders.

On his way back to France, he stopped in Berlin, Germany, where he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Anjei Duda to share the results and discuss the follow-up.

As the head of the EU’s first-half presidency, he is read as a solver of the Ukraine situation and a willingness to give Europe a voice in the face of the confrontation between the West and Russia, including the United States.

It is currently unknown what President Macron’s diplomatic efforts will be fruitful, but one thing is certain is that he has stamped his presence.

Whatever the outcome, President Macron is the first Western leader to bring President Vladimir Putin directly to the ground for dialogue, the first time since tensions over Ukraine have risen.

French and Russian Presidents at joint press conference
French and Russian Presidents at joint press conference

French President Emmanuel Macron(left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a joint press conference at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, on the 7th(local time). [로이터=연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]

As President Macron focuses on resolving the Ukraine situation, the schedule of digestion in France has not been pushed back or received attention.

President Macron was scheduled to visit Marseille, southern France, earlier this week, but canceled all plans and put himself on the plane.

On the 25th of last month, during a tour of the Kreuz province, he spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

In the last two days of finding Eau-de-France in northern France, the news of his visit to the province was buried in an article that said he had spoken to U.S. President Biden regarding deploying 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe.

In the meantime, the opposition candidates who first declared their presidential candidacy turned up the heat in the campaign, throwing buzz around French issues such as purchasing power, housing, and medical systems.

French * Ukrainian Top shaking hands
French * Ukrainian Top shaking hands

French President Emmanuel Macron(left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands following a summit in Kiev, Ukraine, on the 8th(local time). Shaking hands ahead of a joint press conference. [AFP=연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]

It is unknown whether President Macron’s attention outside the country, not at home, will be positive for the presidential election.

“This crisis shows President Macron’s consistency in carrying out his presidency until the last minute,”President Macron’s closest ally, European Affairs Minister Clément Bonn, told daily Le Monde.

In the meantime, President Macron assessed his role in bringing Europe back into the arena, proving that he would be at the forefront if he felt it was necessary.

In an interview with France 5, Mayor Edouard Philippe Le Havre, who was the first Prime Minister of Macron’s government, assessed that Macron was serving France and the EU while risking the election.

Mayor Philipp explained that President Macron is playing his part at risk, even if the conversation with President Putin has room to play a bad role in domestic public opinion.

Far-right candidates in the French Presidential election
Far-right candidates in the French Presidential election

Marine Le Pen(left), presidential candidate of the Far-Right National Union(RN), and Eric Gemour, presidential candidate of Leconquet. [AFP=연합뉴스 자료사진. 재판매 및 DB 금지]

France will have a first-round vote to elect the president on April 10, and if no candidate wins a majority, the first and second-place candidates will vote on April 24.

President Macron has led most of the polls, beating other candidates, and in the last three days has been the first to receive the recommendation of more than 500 elected officials and has been the first to register as a presidential candidate.

Following President Macron, Governor Valérie Pecres, the right-wing Republican Party(LR) presidential candidate, and Paris mayor An Hidalgo, the left-wing Socialist Party(PS) presidential candidate, also secured 500 signatures to recommend him as a presidential candidate in the last eight days.

According to a poll released by pollster Elav on the 9th(local time), the response to President Macron in the first round was the highest at 26%.

This was followed by the far-right National Union(RN) representative Marine Le Pen, who was beaten in the 2017 final vote, with 15.5% and Republican Governor Pecres with 15%.

Eric Gemur, who is competing for the next French presidency with Le Pen and far-right forces, finished fourth with 13%.

The Socialist Party’s response to pick Hidalgo mayor was only 1.5%.

French right-wing Republican presidential candidate Valérie Pecres
French right-wing Republican presidential candidate Valérie Pecres

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On the question of who to choose if President Macron and Le Pen face off in the second round of voting, 56% of the responses to President Macron’s choice pressed Le Pen’s representatives.

Even in the scenario where Governor Pecres and Gemur meet in the final vote, the response to choose President Macron was higher, 54% and 64%, respectively.

The poll, commissioned by BFM Broadcasting and the weekly Rexpress, was conducted on the 7th to 8th of this month with 1,370 adults over the age of 18. The error range is ±1.1 to 3.1%.

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