French President Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected for a second term, defeating his far-right challenger, Marine Le Pen, by a comfortable margin.
Macron is the first French president in 20 years to have secured a second term in office after an official vote projection suggested he received 58.5% of the votes compared with Le Pen’s 41.5%.
Macron’s centrist government will now remain in power for the next five years.
This news was welcomed by a number of leaders across the world, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
‘Wish you every success’:
In a post on Twitter, Morrison praised Macron’s re-election as a “great expression of liberal democracy in action in uncertain times.”
“We wish you [and] France every success, in particular your leadership in Europe and as an important partner to Australia in the Indo-Pacific,” Morrison added.
This social media post came despite tension between Macron and Morrison last year after the Federal Government cancelled a $90 billion submarine contract in September.
At the time, Macron accused Morrison of lying to him about the state of the French contract before the AUKUS deal was announced, whereby the US and the UK would supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines instead.
READ MORE: AUKUS: France slams Australia over move to ditch $90b submarine deal.
Elsewhere, Opposition Party leader, Anthony Albanese, also congratulated Macron on his victory on Twitter and said “France has long stood tall as a beacon of liberty and democracy.”
“That will continue with your leadership, as will our two nations’ friendship,” Albanese said. “It was forged in war, and I know it has a bright future.”
‘An important victory’:
In Greece, Mitsotakis was first off the mark to congratulate Macron on his re-election, writing on Twitter in French: “An important victory for France, Europe and democracy!”
Greece’s President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, also added her voice to the chorus of congratulations.
“I am delighted to be able to continue the excellent cooperation between France and Greece and advance our common European destiny,” she wrote on Twitter in French.
Main opposition party, the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, said in a statement that Macron’s victory and Le Pen’s defeat is a message for democracy in Europe, but serves as a warning as well.
“Nobody should be complacent, especially the leftist and progressive forces,” SYRIZA’s statement reads.
“The defeat of the extreme right – which gained over 40% – and of conservative policies that boost it, is of the utmost priority and requires unified initiatives and solidarity of progressive forces.”
Macron’s victory will be a positive for Greece as the two countries recently strengthened their bilateral relationship.
Greece has signed a new arms deal with France worth over $4.4 billion to buy three navy frigates and six additional Rafale fighter jets as Athens increases its armed forces in response to rising tensions with Turkey.
READ MORE: Greece signs $4.4 billion arms deal with France.
