Emmanuel Macron took to the stage in front of the Eiffel Tower on Sunday evening to the sounds of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy".

The European anthem is his signature tune, with which he celebrated his election victory in 2017.

This time he walked up to the podium hand in hand with his wife Brigitte and surrounded by the children of his campaign workers.

On the way he shook hands and gave kisses on the cheeks.

"Merci!" he thanked the onlookers.

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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Niklas Zaboji

Economic correspondent in Paris

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He knows what he owes to those who voted only for him to prevent the extreme right.

"We must also respond to non-voters," said Macron.

He also wants to react to the anger of Le Pen voters.

"The war in Ukraine reminds us that we are going through a tragic time," he said.

France will play its role within Europe.

He promised "five better years" in the service of France and its youth.

Then the Marseillaise was intoned.

The first trip of Macron's second term should also go to the heart of Europe, to Berlin.

He had previously called the presidential election a “referendum on Europe”.

With 58 percent of the votes, the decision was clearly in favor of the European unification process.

His supporters chanted the campaign slogan: "And one, and two, and five more years!" They twirled European and French pennants through the air.

For a few minutes there was cheering in front of the Eiffel Tower after the results were announced, before Field of Mars turned into an open-air disco, where a DJ opened the party with "One More Time" by the French house band Daft Punk.

Low turnout a warning sign

"Europe also won tonight," said European Secretary of State Clément Beaune happily at the election ceremony.

It is a clear victory.

Nevertheless, given the approval of more than 40 percent for the “extreme right”, he was concerned.

"We have to keep working to bring the country together," Beaune said.

The other ministers of the Macron government also found their way to the Field of Mars little by little after 8 p.m.

Finance and Economics Minister Bruno Le Maire, like Beaune, spoke of a clear vote for the incumbent President.

"I think we fought efficiently against the economic crisis, but also against inflation and the rise in energy prices," he said.

That made a decisive contribution to Macron's electoral success.

In addition, he kept his campaign promises from 2017.

The French could take Macron's word, Le Maire said.

However, he admitted that there is a need to improve on issues such as purchasing power and combating climate change.

"We heard voters' concerns from Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon," said Le Maire, who predicted a few days ago that inflation would remain high this year and only start falling from early 2023.

An initial analysis of the election results shows that the country is clearly divided by income levels.

77 percent of executives (cadres) voted for Macron.

For pensioners it was 68 percent.

67 percent of workers gave their vote to Le Pen. Among the small employees and traders it was 57 percent, according to the polling institute Ifop.

Macron is the senior French candidate.

He got 71 percent of the votes from those over 70.

Le Pen was particularly strong in the 50-59 age group (51 percent).


On Sunday morning, Macron and his wife Brigitte went to the seaside resort of Le Touquet on the northern French coast to vote.

He owns a vacation home there.

We also chose Marine Le Pen five years ago in northern France, in her adopted home of Hénin-Beaumont.

But circumstances have changed.

In 2017, Macron was a beacon of hope.

Now he is wearing the invisible scars of the crises of his tenure: strikes, "yellow vest" protests, pandemic, Ukraine war.

The hardest thing is ahead of him.

In the next five years he must hold together a deeply divided country, as he himself stated.