Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election by a wide margin with 58.8% of the vote. The turnout was slightly lower than in the first round - 72%. Macron became the first president to be re-elected since the introduction of a 5-year term in 2002..

Head of the Paris Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) Tara Varma in a comment to ZN. UA said Macron's main challenge will be to create a sense of cohesion in a highly divided country where far-right candidates won 41% of the vote.. She stressed that Marine Le Pen will do everything possible to take advantage of her result in the June parliamentary elections..

“After an extremely tense two-week campaign in which the Republican Front appears to have resurrected, most political parties are now looking to parliamentary elections in June,” Varma said..

The political reconfiguration that began five years ago will now be completed as new alliances emerge.

“The ultra-left led by Melenchon and La France Insoumise (LFI) aim to form a big left alliance with the Greens (EELV), the Communist Party (PCF) and the Socialist Party (PS). On the other side of the political spectrum, there is more ambiguity: part of the right has already joined Macron, but the other part will have to decide whether to join Erik Zemmour or form another major right-wing party,” the expert added..

What Macron's victory means for Europe?

Varma says Macron's win means ambitious project for Europe. The French President will advocate for a doubling of European sovereignty: in the field of technology, defense, combating economic pressure.

“He also needs to ensure the success of France's current EU Presidency.

It ends on June 30, and a conference on the Western Balkans will be organized in the near future, which will provide an opportunity to start rethinking the EU enlargement policy,” the expert added..

She believes that Macron “will have to take up again the mantle of European diplomatic leadership”.

“In his victory speech, he mentioned Ukraine. He should immediately go to Kyiv, along with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to demonstrate European support for Ukraine. Macron now needs to adjust his method when it comes to defending his European agenda. It must strive to build a more inclusive, participatory Europe,” Varma concluded..