Marine Le Pen

Polling stations have opened in France for the second round of parliamentary elections.

Macron’s Republic on the Move party, known as En Marche! (LREM) and its centrist allies secured 32 percent of the vote in the first round last week and are tipped to gain between 440 and 470 seats in the National Assembly’s 577-seat chamber – more than the 289 necessary for an absolute majority.

France's new President Emmanuel Macron secured backing on May 15 from key ally Chancellor Angela Merkel for his bid to shake up Europe, despite skepticism in Berlin over his proposed reforms.

Travelling to the German capital to meet the veteran leader in his first official trip abroad, Macron used the opportunity to call for a "historic reconstruction" of Europe.

Tight security is in place across Paris for the inauguration of Emmanuel Macron as France's president, BBC reports.

Mr Macron, an independent, won a resounding victory in last weekend's second round of voting against the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

Emmanuel Macron be inaugurated today and will be taking over from François Hollande, who’s been in office since 2012.

Despite Marine Le Pen's drubbing in the French presidential election, her far-right National Front party expanded its footprint in the political landscape -- and confirmed its move into the mainstream. Her anti-immigrant, anti-Europe stance won a record 34 percent of ballots cast on May 7, which translates into the support of nearly 10.6 million voters.

Shortly before the second round of the presidential elections in his country, French philosopher Etienne Balibar wrote that "it is not enough for Marine Le Pen to lose the vote, she has to suffer a heavy defeat."

Le Pen was defeated but she was not crushed. She did not suffer the kind of heavy defeat that would suggest that democratic forces have smashed the "serpent's egg."

The victory of centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's presidential election, in which he beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen by a particularly wide margin, is a very positive development on a number of fronts.

Emmanuel Macron received words of encouragement form Greek leaders yesterday after winning France's presidential election on Sunday.

Michael Roth, Germany’s deputy foreign minister, says the result was marred by right wing candidate Marine Le Pen getting 11 million votes.
Roth, whose portfolio includes Franco-German relations, told public broadcaster ARD on Monday that “it mustn’t become normal that right-wing extremists and populists achieve such strong results.”

Greece's mainstream parties welcomed the victory of centrist, pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron over far-right Marine Le Pen in France's presidential election late Sunday.