April 24, 2022

PARIS — Emmanuel Macron was reelected as president of France on Sunday but a powerful showing by his far-right rival Marine Le Pen — her strongest ever — spells trouble for his second term and sends a warning shot to NATO and the European Union.

The centrist incumbent swept to victory by a comfortable margin, with some 58.5 percent of the electorate backing him versus 41.5 percent for Le Pen, according to a preliminary tally. That gives Macron a second five-year term.

But the president’s victory is clouded by the fact that his rival — an anti-immigration, nationalist candidate who advocates banning the Islamic headscarf in public, has courted Russian President Vladimir Putin and wants to turn the European Union into an “alliance of European nations” — won more votes than any far-right candidate in the history of the French Republic.

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