Who will win the French elections?

Leaders of Germany, Spain and Portugal have called on French voters to re-elect Macron. France’s upcoming Presidential election on Sunday 24 April could decide the future of the European Union, the course of the war in Ukraine, and potentially even the fate of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The two candidates have strikingly different visions for the future of France and Europe.

Who do you think will be the next French president? 

Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen? In the first round, Macron gained 27.85% to Le Pen’s 23.15%, meaning Macron performed better than in 2017 and actually increased his margin versus Le Pen. However, analysts caution that it’s still too early to discount a Le Pen victory.

During the television debate ahead of the second round vote, Macron highlighted the financial links between Le Pen and Russia, accusing the National Rally leader of being “dependent on Vladimir Putin” due to party loans taken from a bank with close ties to the Kremlin. Le Pen’s team, meanwhile, will be happy their candidate has largely managed to detoxify and present herself as a mainstream political candidate (Jacques Chirac refused a TV debate with Le Pen’s father in 2002).

We collected a set of citizen questions about the upcoming French vote. 

To get a response, we posed these questions in an interview with Veronika Wand-Danielsson, former Swedish Ambassador to France. Given the huge impact the vote could have on everyone in the European Union, we felt her perspective would be particularly valuable. Check out the video above to see how she responds.

Who will win the French elections? 

What should we expect? And how might the results affect the future of Europe? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!

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