Macron re-elected as French President after defeating Le Pen

French President Emmanuel Macron trounced his competitor Marine Le Pen in presidential elections on Sunday, causing a surge of relief across Europe that the far-right will not take power.

According to forecasts by polling firms for French television stations based on a sample of the vote count, centrist Macron was projected to win 57.0-58.5 percent of the vote, compared to Le Pen’s 41.5-43.0 percent.

The margin of victory is narrower than in the 2017 run-off, when the same two candidates faced off and Macron won with nearly 66 percent of the vote.

As the results were projected on a huge screen in the Champ de Mars Park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, where Mr Macron’s supporters waved French and EU flags, joyous applause erupted. “Macron” was chanted as people hugged each other.

A devastated crowd of Ms Le Pen’s supporters, on the other hand, exploded in boos and whistles at a sprawling welcome hall on the outskirts of Paris.

Ms. Le Pen conceded loss but vowed to go on, citing the parliamentary elections in June as motivation.

The election provides Macron some confidence as he begins a second five-year term, but it also marks the closest the far-right has ever come to gaining power in France.

Macron is the first French president to gain re-election since Jacques Chirac in 2002, following the departure of his predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande after only one term in office.