The invasion of Ukraine has helped entrench Emmanuel Macron
The mood of the campaign for next month’s election has darkened
THERE WAS no bass beat to pump up the audience, nor banked rows of flag-waving supporters. Emmanuel Macron’s first campaign event since he declared formally on March 3rd that he is running for re-election as president next month was a low-key affair. In a municipal hall (and former vaccination centre) in the town of Poissy, west of Paris, he took mostly friendly questions from a modest audience of some 250 people. The first two raised a matter of great concern during this campaign: Russia’s war in Ukraine.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Unassailable”
More from Europe
Herbert Kickl, Austria’s hard-right ideologue who played the long game
The Freedom Party leader is on the verge of becoming chancellor
A dispute over old war crimes strains Polish-Ukrainian relations
The beneficiary is Russia
Austria could soon have a first far-right leader since 1945
Herbert Kickl of the Freedom Party could be the next head of government
Europe has lots of lithium, but struggles to get it out of the ground
Its targets for strategic autonomy look hard to meet
Spain’s government marks 50 years since Franco died
Opponents say it is the birth of democracy that should be commemorated