They will meet at the ornate Grand Trianon Palace at Versailles. Mr Macron says he expects some tough words.

It could be an awkward meeting, the BBC’s Lucy Williamson in Paris reports.

Recently Mr Macron’s election team accused Russian agents of launching cyber attacks against them.

At the G7 summit in Sicily at the weekend Mr Macron said: “It is essential to talk to Russia because there are a number of international issues that will not be resolved without a tough dialogue with them.”

France is in the coalition backing Sunni Arab and Kurdish rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has strong military help from Russia and Iran.

France has taken a tough line against Moscow over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. Western sanctions, imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, have been ratcheted up since pro-Russian rebels carved out a breakaway region in eastern Ukraine.

Mr Putin appeared to support Mr Macron’s nationalist rival Marine Le Pen during the French presidential election campaign.

He hosted Ms Le Pen in the Kremlin a month before the election’s first round.

Ms Le Pen’s National Front (FN) has received significant loans from Russian banks or banks associated with Russian financiers. She argued that French banks would not give the FN any loans.

Before becoming president this month Mr Macron accused Russia of pursuing “a hybrid strategy combining military intimidation and an information war”.

Versailles was chosen for the Macron-Putin meeting because an exhibition dedicated to Tsar Peter the Great is opening there. He visited Paris 300 years ago, along with other European countries which greatly influenced his reign.

–

Source: BBC

The post France’s Macron set for ‘tough’ talks with Putin near Paris appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The centrist candidate has won more than 60% of the vote, according to numerous estimates, comfortably beating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who swiftly conceded defeat.

Addressing supporters in the east of Paris, she said she had already called Mr Macron to congratulate him, adding the French people had voted for “continuity”.

Mr Macron’s supporters, meanwhile, are pouring into the courtyard outside the Louvre museum in the French capital, where the 39-year-old will deliver a victory speech later.

Speaking to the French news agency AFP, Mr Macron said a new “hopeful and confident” chapter for the nation had begun.

His triumph marks a stunning rise for the banker turned politician, who only set up his En Marche! (On the move) party last year and becomes the country’s youngest ever leader.

The election has seen a shift in French politics, with the traditional centre-right and centre-left parties falling at the first round, leaving Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen to fight to the finish.

The presidential contest usually attracts a high turnout, but the projections say there will be a record number of blank and spoiled ballots.

Figures from the country’s Interior Ministry said 65.30% of voters had cast ballots by 5pm local time, a drop on the level seen at the same stage in 2012 and 2007.

A poll on Friday predicted a final turnout of 75%, down from over 80% in 2002, 2007 and 2012.

Many who plan to vote said they were choosing between the “lesser of two evils” because they didn’t find either remaining candidate acceptable after their party was ejected from the race.

The final day before voting was overshadowed by revelations that Mr Macron’s party had suffered a “massive and coordinated” hacking attack.

Mr Macron’s victory has been been welcomed in European capitals in the wake of a populist tide that has seen Britain vote for Brexit and the US elect Donald Trump.

He wants deeper EU integration, while Ms Le Pen’s policies included France leaving the bloc, quitting the euro and cracking down on immigration.

Mr Macron’s victory marks the third time in six months – following elections in Austria and the Netherlands – that European voters rejected far-right populists.

He is unlikely to have much of a honeymoon period however, given close to 60% of those who planned to vote for him said they would do so to stop Mrs Le Pen, rather than out of any enthusiasm for Mr Macron.

–

Source: Sky News

The post Le Pen concedes defeat after easy Macron win appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Macron, 39, a former economy minister who ran as a “neither left nor right” independent promising to shake up the French political system, took 65.1% to Le Pen’s 34.9%, according to initial projections from early counts.

But Le Pen’s score nonetheless marked a historic high for the French far right. Despite a lacklustre campaign that ended with a calamitous performance in the final TV debate, she was projected to have taken more than 10 million votes, roughly double that of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, when he reached the presidential run-off in 2002. The anti-immigration, anti-EU Front National’s supporters asserted that the party has a central place as an opposition force in France.

Macron, who has never held elected office and was unknown until three years ago, is France’s youngest president. He will take over a country under a state of emergency, still facing a major terrorism threat and struggling with a stagnant economy after decades of mass unemployment. France is also divided after an election campaign in which anti-establishment anger saw the traditional left and right ruling parties ejected from the race in the first round for the first time since the period after the second world war.

Turnout was projected to have been the lowest in more than 40 years. Macron’s victory came not only because voters supported his policy platform for free market, pro-business reform, and his promises to energise the EU coupled with a leftwing approach to social issues. Some of his voters came from other parties across the political spectrum and turned out not in complete support of his programme, but to stop the Front National.

In a political landscape with a strong hard left and far right, Macron faces the challenge of trying to win a parliamentary majority for his fledgling political movement En Marche! (On the Move) in legislative elections next month. Without a majority, he will not be able to carry out his manifesto promises.

After the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump as US president, the race for the Élysée was the latest election to shake up establishment politics by kicking out the figures that stood for the status quo, ejecting the mainstream parties that have dominated French politics for 50 years and leaving the political novice Macron to do battle with the far right.

His victory comes after a bitter campaign with Le Pen in which she accused him of being part of an elite that did not understand ordinary people, and he said Le Pen represented the “party of hatred” that wanted a “civil war” in France. The run-off pitted France’s most Europhile candidate against its most Europhobe.

Hours before the end of campainging on Friday night, Macron’s campaign was hacked, which Paris prosecutors are investigating. Hundreds of thousands of emails and documents were dumped online and spread by WikiLeaks in what his campaign called an attempt at “democratic destabilisation”.

Macron, a former investment banker and senior civil servant who grew up in a bourgeois family in Amiens, served as deputy chief of staff to the Socialist president, François Hollande, but was not part of the Socialist party.

In 2014, Hollande appointed him economy minister, but he left government in 2016, complaining that pro-business reforms were not going far enough. A year ago, he formed En Marche!, promising to shake up France’s “vacuous” and discredited political class.

Macron campaigned on pledges to ease labour laws, improve education in deprived areas and extend protections for self-employed people.

The election race was full of extraordinary twists and turns. Hollande became the first president since the war to decide not to run again for office after slumping to record unpopularity with a satisfaction rating of 4%.
His troubled five-year term left France still struggling with a sluggish economy and a mood of disillusionment with the political class. The country is more divided than ever before. More than 230 people have been killed in terrorist attacks in little more than two years, the political class is questioning Islam’s place in French society, and more than 3 million people are unemployed.

The rightwing candidate François Fillon, one seen as a favourite, was badly damaged by a judicial investigation into a string of corruption allegations, including that he had paid his wife and children generous salaries from public funds for fake parliamentary assistant jobs.

The ruling Socialist party, under its candidate Benoît Hamon, saw its score plunge to 6%, while the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon finished third.

The final round marks a redrawing of the political landscape, away from the old left-right divide towards a contest between a liberal, pro-globalisation stance, and “close the borders” nationalism. Le Pen has styled the election as being between her party’s “patriots” and the “globalists” she says Macron represents.

–

Source: The Guardian

The post Macron wins French presidency by decisive margin over Le Pen appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Several sections of her speech in Villepinte, north of Paris, appear to repeat almost word-for-word comments Mr Fillon made in an address on 15 April.

An official of her National Front party said she had made a “nod” to Mr Fillon and it showed she was “not sectarian”.

Ms Le Pen faces centrist Emmanuel Macron in the final round on Sunday.

The similarity in the speeches was pointed out by the Ridicule TV YouTube channel, initially set up by François Fillon’s supporters to attack Mr Macron before the first round of voting that saw Mr Fillon eliminated from the contest.

Ridicule TV said the far right presidential candidate had plagiarised Mr Fillon’s speech “word for word” and set the two speeches side by side, inviting viewers to make up their own minds.

The videos were also posted on Twitter.

Several passages imitated Mr Fillon’s address word-for-word:

• In Mr Fillon‘s speech, he made specific reference to France’s geography and neighbours. He called the Rhine border with Germany “the most open, the most dangerous, the most promising” but mentioned “a Germanic world we have been so often in conflict with and with which we will yet co-operate in so many ways”
• Ms Le Pen also called the same border “the most open and the most promising” and also mentioned “a Germanic world we will yet co-operate with in so many ways, as long as we regain the relationship of allies and not of subjects”
• Both speeches spoke of waiting lists to learn French in Shanghai, Tokyo, Mexico, Rabat and Rome
• Both speeches used the same quotation from World War One PM Georges Clemenceau
• At times, the words were almost exactly the same. Mr Fillon said: “France is a history, it is a geography, but it is also a set of values and principles transmitted from generation to generation, as passwords. It is a singular voice addressed to all the peoples of the universe”
• Ms Le Pen echoed him with: “France is also a set of values and principles transmitted from generation to generation, as passwords. And then it is a voice, an extraordinary, singular voice that speaks to all the peoples of the universe”

The Liberation newspaper said that what was supposed to have been a key speech for the second phase of voting in the election became instead a focus of ridicule for social media users.

But Florian Philippot, deputy chairman of the National Front, told Radio Classique the party had owned up to the similarities and that Ms Le Pen’s speech was “nod-and-a-wink” to Mr Fillon’s speech to “launch a real debate” on French identity.

He earlier told Agence France-Presse that the speech showed “she is not sectarian”.

–

Source: BBC

The post France election: Le Pen accused of plagiarising speech appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ms Le Pen, of the far-right National Front (FN), chose Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, of the mainstream nationalist “Stand Up France” in an apparent bid to attract his voters.

Mr Dupont-Aignan had already backed Ms Le Pen for the second round.

Ms Le Pen faces centrist Emmanuel Macron in the second, decisive round of voting, which takes place on 7 May.

Mr Dupont-Aignan, who got 4.7% in the first round, stood on a platform of leaving the euro and scrapping the European Union, higher ethical standards for elected officials, and focusing on the fight against jihadist terrorism.

He said it was time to stop treating Ms Le Pen as untouchable.

The BBC’s Hugh Schofield, in Paris, says the alliance between the two right-wing parties is symbolically important as it is the first time the FN has formed a pact with a mainstream political party.

Ms Le Pen’s manifesto has been adapted to take in some of her putative prime minister’s policies.

But the new alliance is less likely to appeal to the nearly 20% of French voters who cast their first round ballot for left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon, correspondents say.

Outgoing President François Hollande, speaking in Brussels at his last EU summit, said the election on 7 May “is a European choice”.

“The French have everything to gain by staying in the European Union,” he told reporters gathered at the summit to discuss the UK leaving the bloc.

–

Source: BBC

The post France election: Marine Le Pen would make Dupont-Aignan PM appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The move comes just a day after she reached the second round of the French election, where she will face centrist Emmanuel Macron.

Ms Le Pen told French TV she needed to be above partisan considerations.

Opinion polls suggest Mr Macron is firm favourite for the second round but Ms Le Pen said: “We can win, we will win.”

The French term she used signalled that the move to step aside would be temporary.

She told France 2 that France was approaching a “decisive moment”.

Ms Le Pen said her decision had been made out of the “profound conviction” that the president must bring together all of the French people.

“So, this evening, I am no longer the president of the National Front. I am the candidate for the French presidency,” she said.

The BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris says this is a symbolic act intended to show her concerns are for the country as a whole and not for her party, and that she is reaching out for the voters of candidates defeated in the first round, particularly those of the Republicans’ François Fillon.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, Mr Fillon told party leaders that he “no longer had the legitimacy” to take the party into legislative elections that will follow next month’s presidential run-off.

He said he would become “an ordinary activist like any other”.

Ms Le Pen took over the FN leadership from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in January 2011.

–

Source: BBC

The post France elections: Le Pen steps aside as National Front leader appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The pair will face each other in a run-off vote on 7 May after taking the top places in Sunday’s first round, with Mr Macron the current favourite to win.

Mr Hollande said a far-right victory would endanger the country.

He said: “What is at stake is France’s make-up, its unity, its membership of Europe and its place in the world.”

His brief TV address on Monday reflected a move by much of France’s mainstream to line up behind Mr Macron to try to stave off Ms Le Pen.

Earlier, defeated candidates, the Republicans’ François Fillon and Socialist Benoît Hamon, both urged supporters to vote for Mr Macron.

Ms Le Pen quickly renewed her attacks on Mr Macron on Monday, calling him a “weakling” for his anti-terrorism policies.

The victory of Ms Le Pen and Mr Macron meant that, for the first time in six decades, neither of France’s main left-wing or right-wing parties had a candidate remaining in the election.

The pair will hold a TV debate on 3 May, aides to Mr Macron said on Monday.

President Hollande said the far-right would threaten the rupture of Europe, “profoundly divide France” and “faced with such a risk, I will vote for Emmanuel Macron”.

He said his former economy minister would “defend the values which will bring French people together at such an important moment, a serious time for Europe, the world and France”.

But the BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris says the support of Mr Hollande will be a mixed blessing for Mr Macron, as it will serve as a reminder to the French people that he was previously a close adviser and minister of the unpopular head of state.

When he conceded defeat, the conservative Mr Fillon, who was third on Sunday with 19.9%, said there was “no other choice than voting against the far-right”.

However, the position of the fourth-placed candidate, hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who took a creditable 19.6%, was still unclear.
He pointedly refused to back Mr Macron, whose pro-EU, pro-business and pro-globalisation stance is diametrically opposed to his anti-austerity, eurosceptic approach.

Steeve Briois, vice-president of Ms Le Pen’s National Front (FN), said it was hoping to win over Mr Mélenchon’s supporters, who he called “outside the system”.

“The voters who voted for Mr Mélenchon are angry voters. They can be in agreement with us,” Mr Briois told the Associated Press.

However, an IFOP poll on Monday of Mélenchon supporters suggested that 51% would vote for Mr Macron and only 19% for Ms Le Pen.

Protesters who burned cars at the Place de la Bastille and Place de la Republique in Paris overnight were chanting “No Marine and No Macron!”

The latest opinion poll, by Opinionway, suggested a second-round victory for Mr Macron by 61% to 39%.

But there were warnings from Mr Macron’s own party following a glitzy victory celebration at a Paris bistro that the job was not yet done.

“We need to be humble. The election hasn’t been won and we need to bring people together to win,” Richard Ferrand, secretary-general of Mr Macron’s En Marche movement, said.

The National Front said that while Mr Macron’s supporters were recovering “from their showbiz evening”, Ms Le Pen was out canvassing in a market in a small northern town.

She quickly attacked her rival: “Mr Macron is a weakling. Here we have a candidate who doesn’t have a programme to protect the French people from the threat posed by Islamist terrorism.”

She added: “He is a hysterical, radical ‘Europeanist’. He is for total open borders. He says there is no such thing as French culture.”
What does Mr Macron stand for?

At 39, Mr Macron could become the youngest president France has ever had – and the first president in the Fifth Republic who does not belong to a major party.

He secured 8.4 million votes – more than any other candidate – in the first round.
Mr Macron was Mr Hollande’s economy minister but quit to create En Marche.

In a victory speech to supporters, Mr Macron said: “I hope that in a fortnight I will become your president. I want to become the president of all the people of France – the president of the patriots in the face of the threat from the nationalists.”

What about Ms Le Pen?
Ms Le Pen, 48, took over the FN leadership from her father in January 2011 and helped her party secure big gains in regional elections.

She won 7.6 million votes on Sunday – the strongest ever result for a FN candidate, and 2.8 million more than her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, won for the FN in 2002.

Following the first round results, Ms Le Pen made an “appeal to all patriots”, saying a vote for her was the key to the “survival of France”.

–

Source: BBC

The post Hollande urges France to reject Le Pen appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.