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Praises and accolades are pouring in from all over the European Union to the French centrist independent candidate Emmanuel Macron as he came first in Sunday’s Presidential election round one according to projections. According to the latest projection, Mr. Macron is set to come first with 23.9 percent of votes, followed by 21.4 percent for Marine le Pen, 19.9 percent for the Republican candidate François Fillon, and 19.6 percent for the leftwing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Norwegian foreign minister Borge Brende, whose country is not a member of the European Union, welcomed the results on Twitter. Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has expressed cautious optimism that former banker Macron would emerge victorious over Le Pen. Steffen Siebert, German chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, said it was “good that Emmanuel Macron has been successful with his positions for a strong EU and a social market economy. Good luck for the coming two weeks.” Martin Schulz, the Social Democrats’ candidate for German chancellorship this year and the former European parliament president, also tweeted his congratulations and urged “all French democrats to unite so the nationalist does not become president”.
In speech to his supporters, in recognition of his victory Emmanuel Macron said,
“Today, the people of France have spoken. As our country confronts an unprecedented moment in its history, it has responded in the best way possible - by voting in huge numbers. It has decided to place me first in this first round.
I want to be the president of all the French people – of patriots in the face of the nationalists’ threat. A president who protects, transforms, and builds, who allows those who want to create, innovate, do business, and work to do so more easily and more quickly. A president who helps those who have less, who are more fragile.
I will work over the coming fortnight so that together we can gather as many people as possible around my candidacy. The strength of this coming together will be decisive for government. The challenge this evening is not to vote against a person, but to decide to break completely with a system that has been incapable of responding to our country’s problems for 30 years.
That’s why I want to construct a majority to govern and to transform, of new talents, in which all will have their place. I will not ask where they come from, but whether they agree with the renewal of our politics, the security of the French people, reforming society and relaunching the European project.
You are the face of this renewal. You are the face of France’s hope. My fellow citizens, there is not more than one France. There is only one, ours, the France of patriots, in a Europe that protects and that we must reform. The task is immense, but I am ready, at your sides. Vive la République, vive la France.
To all those who have accompanied me since April 2016, in founding and bringing En Marche! to life, I would like to say this: in the space of a year, we have changed the face of French political life.”
