Tag: french elections

Eurosceptics see Macron win as bad news for Brexit

by Dario THUBURN Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom  – British eurosceptics reacted angrily on Monday to Emmanuel Macron’s victory in France saying the election of a pro-EU president was bad news for the Brexit negotiations but experts said a stronger Europe could ease the talks. Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage said Macron would be European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s “puppet” while the Leave.EU campaign group compared his election win on Sunday to France’s surrender to Nazi […]

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Early French vote turnout slightly higher than 2012: official

PARIS, France (AFP) — Turnout in the first round of the French presidential election at 1000 GMT on Sunday was slightly higher than at the same stage in 2012, the interior ministry said. Four hours after polling stations opened, turnout was just over 28.5 percent, which would put the final turnout on course to beat the figure of 79.48 percent in the first round in 2012.

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France votes in presidential nailbiter

by Guy Jackson Agence France Presse France began voting Sunday under heavy security in the first round of the most unpredictable presidential election in decades, with the outcome seen as vital for the future of the beleaguered European Union. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron are the favorites to progress to a run-off on May 7 but the result is too close to call in a deeply divided country. Le Pen, the […]

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French candidates ‘warned of election attack plot’

(Agence France Presse) — Photos of two men arrested Tuesday on suspicion of plotting a terror attack in France were distributed to the security teams of candidates in the upcoming French presidential election, campaign sources told AFP. “The photos were passed to my security service from Thursday,” far-right candidate Marine Le Pen told AFP, while an aide to centrist Emmanuel Macron also confirmed receiving pictures. Conservative Francois Fillon was warned about the danger on Friday, […]

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US senator warns of Russian interference in French election

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The head of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee warned Wednesday that Russia is interfering in the French election just as it did in the US presidential campaign last year. Senator Richard Burr, who has access to some of the most highly classified US intelligence, said Moscow has shown a clear will and ability to disrupt elections in Western democracies. “What we might assess was a very covert effort in 2016 […]

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