Macron leads Le Pen In second round of French presidential race

Emmanuel Macron is closer to winning another term at the helm of Europe's second largest economy as nationalist leader Marine Le Pen runs out of time to narrow the gap between them before the presidential runoff on Sunday.

Both candidates are holding their last rallies in areas where they came out on top in the first round two weeks ago - Le Pen chose the northern Hauts-de-France region. Macron is located in the southern town of Figeac.

The gap between the two has widened since April 10 to about 12 percentage points, as Le Pen's weaknesses in the economy became more apparent and politicians on the left and right rallied around Macron, as the gap between the two has widened since April 10. He is also benefitting from his stature of experienced statesman in Russia's war with Ukraine.

Le Pen needed to catch up on Wednesday night, but did not do so until the presidential debate ended on Wednesday night. The much-hyped head-to-head was uneventful and didn't appear to help either candidate win over new voters or cost them many. A snap survey published afterward suggested that viewers found Macron more convincing. Markets were reassured.

Their different world views came into sharp focus, especially in Europe. Le Pen wants to transform the European Union into an alliance of nations. Macron said that her ties to Russia and other euroskeptics would wreck the bloc from within. He wants to strengthen the EU by enhancing unity on issues from health to defense.

European leaders are closely following the election and are concerned with it. In a joint column published on Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa called for voters not to back Le Pen while explicitly applauding Macron.

The incumbent who values democracy, sovereignty, freedom, and the rule of law is the choice between the incumbent and the nationalist who has fought autocratic rulers like Vladimir Putin, who has awakened memories of Europe's darkest times, they said.

According to Bloomberg's polling average, Macron is leading Le Pen 56.2% to 43.8%. That would give him a narrower margin than five years ago. But if Le Pen gets more than 40% of the vote, she'd likely emerge empowered, while he might have a harder time implementing his reform agenda depending on how parliamentary elections turn out in June.

On Thursday, Le Pen returned to her bread and butter issues that have been her focus throughout the campaign, posing for photos and signing posters with truck drivers during a stop in Roye, Somme. She wants to be the president of people who struggle, and she called for voters to cast ballots with their reason and hearts. The president was in the country's most diverse department, Seine-Saint- Denis near Paris, in a clear attempt to court French beavers - the left-leaning voters who have been building dams to prevent the far-right from taking power.

It is not over yet, Macron said, calling on all his supporters to try to convince as many people as possible to back him. We shouldn't get used to the advance of far-right ideas. Green leader Yannick Jadot urged voters to back Macron with no pleasure, but no hesitation, in a sign that an informal cross-party alliance against the far-right isn't completely crumbling despite Macron's unpopularity among many on the left. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is not explicitly endorsing the president, said no one should give a single vote to Le Pen.