Image Credit: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images 
Exit polls after the second round of voting in the French election on Sunday indicate that centrist President Emmanuel Macron will win with 58.2% of the vote, while Le Pen gained 41.8%. The official results will not be published until Monday.
Macron is on the way to becoming the first French president in 20 years to be re-elected, according to exit polls published by Ipsos and cited in the French media. The first round of the election took place on April 10, leaving two candidates: Macron and the National Rally party’s Marine Le Pen, who is viewed by many as a far-right candidate.
Macron re-elected for five more years — and that’s how his supporters are reacting
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We can assume how relieved many might be. This time Le Pen came pretty close to winning France’s highest office. #FrenchElections2022 pic.twitter.com/NFz9fE6zD4— Alexandra von Nahmen (@AlexandravonNah) April 24, 2022
Macron 58. First president re-elected for 20 years pic.twitter.com/4B3fpIxfCJ
— ido vock (@idvck) April 24, 2022
Gratulacje @EmmanuelMacron. Dzięki Twojej wygranej będzie więcej Europy w Europie. I mniej Rosji. A już niedługo nadejdzie taki dzień, że będziemy mieli Paryż w Warszawie.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) April 24, 2022
MONTPELLIER / The demonstration against the election of Emmanuel Macron begins in the streets of Montpellier pic.twitter.com/xCuUtHubwN
— Suzanne Seddon (@suzseddon) April 24, 2022
Riots across France tonight as Macron wins another french election, must have pulled out them good ol' loyal Dominion Voting machines and also must be the most popular President of all time in France by these scenes. pic.twitter.com/gcAgbrifXt
— UK Neil (@UKNeil4) April 24, 2022
FRANCE: Remarkable scenes as Macron's thugs charge into protest only to be forced to retreat – the natives are restless and they're not having it!
pic.twitter.com/fFxsL5x2iM
— Scotty
(@ScottyUnchained) April 24, 2022
RIP FRANCE
pic.twitter.com/3WmwNR9Mw7
— VeBee
(@VeBo1991) April 24, 2022
While Le Pen managed to gain record support among French voters in the first round, the incumbent president’s lead has increased since then by 11-15%, according to the polls. In the first round, Macron won 27.85% of the vote, and Le Pen received 23.15%.
While Macron’s first term was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the next one, if the official results confirm his victory, will come amid the ongoing Russian military offensive in Ukraine. Over the last two months, Macron has been one of the few Western leaders who has conducted regular talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, he has played a key role in putting together numerous packages of EU sanctions against Russia, providing military assistance to Ukraine, and deploying troops to NATO’s eastern front.
Some of Macron’s European partners have openly supported him in the race against Le Pen. Three days before the second round of the election, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa published a joint column calling on French voters to support him.
The leaders wrote: “t is the choice between a Democratic candidate who believes that France is stronger in a powerful and autonomous European Union (EU), and a far-right candidate who openly sides with those who attack our freedom and our democracy.”