EU leaders hail Macron, police teargas protesters in Paris

Macron

President Macron

Riot police charged and sprayed teargas on demonstrators in central Paris protesting after President Emmanuel Macron was re-elected on Sunday.

Police sought to break up a crowd of mostly young people who had gathered in the central neighbourhood of Chatelet to protest, images on Twitter showed.

Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff vote earlier on Sunday by winning a second five-year term and preventing what would otherwise have been a major political upset. read more

Although Macron won by a comfortable margin, the abstention rate was expected to settle at the highest since 1969, with a substantial chunk of voters unwilling to vote for either Macron or Le Pen.

Between the first round of voting and Sunday’s runoff, students protested outside the Sorbonne in Paris and other universities, expressing their disillusionment with the choice on offer.

But across Europe, leaders celebrated Macron’s victory as they heaved. a sigh of relief that Le Pen was not elected.

European Council President Charles Michel, as well as the prime ministers of Belgium and Luxembourg, were among the first to congratulate Macron, followed by almost all of the bloc’s 27 leaders.

“Bravo Emmanuel,” Michel wrote on Twitter. “In this turbulent period, we need a solid Europe and a France totally committed to a more sovereign and more strategic European Union.”

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the public face of Brexit for many Europeans, applauded the result, pledging cooperation with Macron and saying that “France is one of our closest and most important allies.”

France, a founding member of the EU, has been at the centre of efforts to integrate Europe since the end of World War Two, although such policies have been divisive.

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European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, a French national, offered warm words for the pro-business Macron, saying “strong leadership is essential in these uncertain times.”

The leaders of Sweden, Romania, Lithuania, Finland, the Netherlands and Greece, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen all reacted within about half an hour of the result with their congratulations.

“I look forward to continuing our extensive and constructive cooperation within the EU and NATO, and to further strengthening the excellent relationship between our countries,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

Echoing the sentiment of many, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Europe was the biggest winner.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who along with Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is seen as forming a powerful trio of pro-EU leaders, also said the re-election was “wonderful news for all of Europe.”

Scholz offered continued Franco-German cooperation, which is regarded as the engine of European integration.

Many leaders referred to Macron as “cher (dear) Emmanuel”.

The youthful centrist is one of the bloc’s most pro-EU leaders, credited by many as having the vision to help it stand up to China’s rise and Russia’s military threat.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, tweeted his congratulations to Macron. Sanchez on Thursday wrote a joint op-ed in French daily Le Monde with Portugal’s Antonio Costa and Scholz criticising Le Pen and urging people to vote for Macron.

“The chance that there will be pro-European governments in France and Germany for at least the next four years must be seized,” Anton Hofreiter, chairman of the Europe Committee in the German Bundestag, said.

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