In France, the April presidential election is being overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. The people want continuity and seem to be sitting in support of President Emmanuel Macron.
17.3. 19:27 • Updated March 17th. 19:29
The campaigning for the French presidential election in April has been severely hampered by the war in Ukraine. Campaign fields in particular have been waiting for the president to sit down Emmanuel Macronin openings.
On Thursday, President Macron stepped in front of the media in Paris and told him what his goals are if he is elected for a second five-year term.
As usual, Macron ran a multi-hour speech marathon over journalists, addressing, among other things, the lack of physical activity among young people, the self-sufficiency of food production, the exceptionally good development of employment and increases in defense spending.
The overarching theme in Macron’s “With You” campaign is the emphasis on national independence and unity.
Money for defense and taxes down
The war in Europe has led many European countries to increase their defense spending. President Emmanuel Macron joined the French force as a continuation.
“We are aiming for a € 50 billion defense budget by 2025,” said President Macron.
At present, France’s defense budget is almost EUR 41 billion.
Along with increasing defense spending, Macron also raised a different kind of provision for future crises and threats. He emphasized, among other things, the self-sufficiency of French food production.
During Macron’s possible second presidency, investment in industry, energy production and the green transition will also continue.
He also plans to continue his plan to gradually raise the retirement age so that in future he will retire at the age of 65.
The presidential election promises also include a tax cut of € 15 billion a year. Half of the discounts would go to households and half to businesses.
Macron noted the good employment performance of its first five-year term. Unemployment is the lowest in 15 years.
– I promised to reduce unemployment and we succeeded in spite of all the crises we faced.
Campaigning with the lights off
The behavior of the incumbent president before the April presidential election has sparked resentment among other candidates.
They are particularly outraged that Emmanuel Macron is not going to take part in the TV election debates at all until the first round.
Even before that, Macron’s strategy was to prolong the announcement of his candidacy for as long as possible. He took all media attention away from the fact that France became the country holding the EU presidency at the turn of the year.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, President Macron has been a key mediator in the war as well as a messenger for both the Russian president Vladimir Putin than the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in the direction of.
He does not have to campaign, because in a time of crisis, the people are settling down to support their president and want continuity as the world turmoil around them.
With Le Pen for the second round?
Macron’s position as the country’s leader and key European statesman has raised his chances of renewing the wash in his very own class.
His support is currently in the order of 30%, with the National Front Marine Le Penin support is far from 18 per cent.
The next cluster is the far right Éric Zemmourradical left Jean-Luc Mélenchon and a moderate right Valérie Pécressewith support between 11% and 13%.
What is striking is that the Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgon support is persistently in the two percent range. The downward spiral of the former presidential party is fierce.