Russia fears Macron's election as French president

Many Russian politicians see Marine Le Pen as their new favourite, but fear that Emmanuel Macron will be elected French President.

Pro-EU and anti-Russia candidate Emmanuel Macron is likely to win the French presidency after the second round. Photo: The Independent

Lost favorite candidate after round 1

With former Prime Minister Francois Fillon finishing in third place and eliminated from the May 7 runoff, the Kremlin has lost its preferred French presidential candidate. Many Russian politicians and experts believe that heavyweight Emmanuel Macron, who is likely to win the second round of the French presidential election on May 7, will not help solve France's political woes.

For the Kremlin, former Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s defeat in the first round was an ominous sign. Of the four leading French presidential candidates, Fillon pursued the closest ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin. The two politicians have had friendly relations since both served as prime ministers from 2007 to 2012.

During the election campaign, Fillon appeared friendly to Moscow, calling sanctions against Russia "completely ineffective". Speaking about Russia's annexation of Crimea, he repeatedly emphasized the right of "self-determination" of the people living on the peninsula.

Macron candidate most disadvantageous to Russia

In contrast to former Prime Minister Fillon, Emmanuel Macron is the presidential candidate most unfavorable to Moscow. Although he intends to maintain dialogue with Russia, the 39-year-old politician has called on the European Union to take a tough line against any possible interference in the European election process.

The statement came after Richard Ferrand, Macron's campaign manager, accused Russia of hacking into the campaign's computer network. He also accused Moscow of using fake news in an attempt to discredit Macron ahead of the election.

Former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron won nearly 24% of the vote in the first round of the French presidential election, far ahead of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen (21.3%). For Russia, the result was hardly a surprise, and political analysts in Moscow said that Marine Le Pen was unlikely to defeat Emmanuel Macron in the second round.

“It is clear that the Western world will do anything to prevent Le Pen from being elected president of France,” State Duma deputy speaker Sergei Zheleznyak told reporters on April 24.

During a visit to Moscow in late March and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Marine Le Pen said she was "in favor of developing relations with Russia" and called for cooperation with Moscow in the fight against terrorism.

The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia (Upper House) Konstantin Kosachev commented that the possible victory of presidential candidate Macron will not solve France's problems.

Analyst Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow, also agrees with this assessment.

In an interview with Interfax, Mr Lukyanov did not believe that a French president like Macron could lead the country out of its political and economic crisis. “It seems that he is a political product of circumstances, rather than a representative of any distinct political program,” he explained. “If so, the situation can only get worse in the future and then the new political reality will not be better than the old one.”

According to Kienthuc.net.vn