French voters choose between two very different visions for their country during Sunday's presidential election as center-right President Emanuel Macron tries to repel the challenge of his far-right opponent, Marin Le Pen, according to a CNN International report.
Macron, 44, is promoting an innovative, globalized France at the head of a muscular European Union. Le Pen, 53, has proposed an economically nationalist, more introverted platform that would be a fundamental shift in the direction France has taken since the end of World War II.
Macron and Le Pen advanced to the second round on Sunday, finishing first and second, respectively, in the first round of voting two weeks ago, creating a repeat of the 2017 showdown. Macron defeated Le Pen in that vote. by almost two to one.
Analysts expect a much narrower race this time. Russia invades Ukraine in February, sparking a national anthem.
Macron's efforts for diplomacy removed him from the election campaign, while Le Pen was forced to withdraw from its previous support for Vladimir Putin. Lepen was an outspoken admirer of the Russian president, whom she visited during her 2017 election campaign, while her party borrowed from a Czech-Russian bank several years ago.
Since then she has condemned Moscow's decision to invade and defend the loan, explaining that its party was forced to seek financing abroad because no French bank approved the request.
Despite her previous support for Putin, Le Pen has placed herself in a strong position to win by focusing on economics, moving away from the typical far-right platform that focused on immigration, security and identity, which dominated her campaign. in 2017. However, it has not abandoned some of its most controversial policies, such as banning Muslim women from wearing headscarves in public.
French voters are particularly concerned about the cost of living, which has soared due to inflation and rising energy prices, and experts say it has done a good job of sympathizing with French voters struggling to make ends meet. especially beyond its base in the former industrial hotspots, where jobs have been lost due to globalization and technological advancement.
It also performed better in Wednesday's presidential debate than in 2017, when However, critics say Le Pen's campaign has not adequately explained how Paris will pay for many of the solutions it proposes. They also question whether they all comply with French and European law.
And while Le Pen has abandoned some of its most controversial policies, such as leaving the EU and leaving the euro, experts say many of its proposals would continue to put France in a state of conflict with the EU.
