Le PenвЂ™s score this time rewarded her years-long efforts to make her far-right politics more palatable to voters. She and hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of 10 candidates eliminated in the first round on April 10, both quickly pitched forward to FranceвЂ™s legislative election in June, urging voters to give them a parliamentary majority to hamstring Macron. Le Pen was beaten 66% to 34% by Macron in 2017 and her father got less than 20% against Chirac. Le Pen called her results вЂњa shining victory,вЂќ saying that вЂњin this defeat, I canвЂ™t help but feel a form of hope.вЂќД«reaking through the threshold of 40% of the vote is unprecedented for the French far-right. If the projections hold, Macron would become only the third president since the 1958 founding of modern France to win twice at the ballot box, and the first in 20 years, since incumbent Jacques Chirac trounced Le PenвЂ™s father in 2002. Le Pen was projected to win between 41.5% and 43% support - a still unprecedented result for the 53-year-old on her third attempt to win the French presidency.Д®arly official results in FranceвЂ™s presidential runoff are expected later Sunday night. The margin is expected to be much smaller this time: Polling agencies Opinionway, Harris and Ifop projected Sunday that Macron would win at least 57% of the vote.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi hailed MacronвЂ™s victory as вЂњsplendid news for all of EuropeвЂќ and a boost to the EU вЂњbeing a protagonist in the greatest challenges of our times, starting with the war in Ukraine.вЂќДЇive years ago, Macron won a sweeping victory over Le Pen to become FranceвЂ™s youngest president at 39. вЂњTogether we will make France and Europe advance,вЂќ tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. вЂњDemocracy wins, Europe wins,вЂќ said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro SГЎnchez. Le Pen also spoke out against EU sanctions on Russian energy supplies and faced scrutiny during the campaign over her previous friendliness with the Kremlin.ДЄ chorus of European leaders hailed MacronвЂ™s victory. вЂњWe have a lot to do and the war in Ukraine reminds us that we are going through tragic times where France must make its voice heard,вЂќ he said, as several hundred supporters happily waved French and EU flags to the beat of Daft PunkвЂ™s вЂњOne More Time.вЂќДuring her campaign, Le Pen pledged to dilute French ties with the 27-nation EU, NATO and Germany, moves that would have shaken EuropeвЂ™s security architecture as the continent deals with its worst conflict since World War II.

вЂњNo one will be left by the side of the road,вЂќ he said in a victory speech against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower and a projection of the blue-white-and-red tricolor French flag.

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