Emmanuel Macron storms forward in polls after finally announcing his intention to re -election

French President Emmanuel Macron campaigned for his re -election on Friday after he officially announced his intention to strive for another term.

According to a survey of BVA/RTL published on the published survey, the 44-year-old is expected to receive 29 percent of the vote in April in April, an increase of five points since the Russian invasion of the Russian invasion in Ukraine two weeks ago.

Marine Le Pen, the long-time chairman of the right-wing extremist National Rally Party, is more than 10 points behind at 16 percent, while the center-right candidate Valérie Pécresse and right-wing extremist Eric Zemmour are 13 percent on par.

only one candidate of the political left-the hardlining arsonist Jean-Luc Melenchon-achieves double-digit survey values. The left has been disordered since the beginning of the election campaign season.

Mr. Macron made his campaign in a short letter published on Friday in several large French newspapers.

"We experience upheavals of unprecedented speed," wrote the self -proclaimed center.

"So I ask for your trust in a new mandate as President of the French Republic. I am the candidate to invent a unique French and European answer to the challenges of the century. I am the candidate to defend our values ​​that are threatened by the worldwide upheavals."

He also warned that his devotion to the election campaign could only be partially - in allusion to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine: "Of course I will not be able to lead as an election campaign as I would have hoped for due to the context. But with clarity." And I declare commitment with each of you our project, our will, our country further. ”

Mr. Macron, who has given up as a mediator between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the West in the past few weeks, admitted on Thursday after a 90-minute conversation with the Russian leader that progress had been stalled.

he tweeted: "I spoke to President Putin this morning. He refuses to stop his attacks on Ukraine at this time. It is of crucial importance to maintain the dialogue to avoid human tragedies. I will continue my efforts and contacts. We have to avoid the worst."

Despite the setback on Thursday, Mr. Macron was applauded for his efforts. A published IFOP survey showed that the majority of the French population assessed him as "best suited" for coping with the crisis.

More than 90 percent of the respondents stated that they were deeply concerned about the situation in Ukraine.

The crisis delayed the announcement of Mr. Macron's election campaign, but probably increases his chances of re -election.

"In a crisis, the citizens always stand behind the flag and stand behind the head of state," said Antoine Bristial, expert in public opinion at the Jean-Jaures Foundation, a thought factory based in Paris.

At the same time, the invasion of Russia has proven to be embarrassing, at least for some of Macron's contenders. Ms. Le Pen, who visited the Kremlin during her presidential campaign in 2017, tried to defend her connections to Putin.

The vehemently anti-immigration and hostile nationalist Zemmour, who was supported by a Moscow thinking factory in November, was called up for earlier statements in which he described the Kremlin leader as "patriots", which he "admired".

The center-right woman Pécresse is still fighting to seriously win the ground. A recently published Le Monde article explained that it "seems to have lost her hold", with the invasion of Ukraine only "its difficulties to get their campaign up and running".

If Mr. Macron wins, as surveys suggest, it would be the first time in more than 20 years that a French president was re -elected.