French election crucial for future of Europe

After a long and chaotic campaign, 47 million French voters will go to the polls on Sunday for the first round of a historic presidential election.


The election goes beyond national stakes and will have decisive impacts on the future of the European Union (EU) and the Old Continent.

Following a series of unexpected events on the global stage including "Brexit" and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, the world's attention is now focused on France, wondering how the EU's third largest economy will respond to the rise of populism, protection and sentiment against globalisation.

The atmosphere of uncertainly will linger until the last moment for Sunday's vote, while in 2012, the duel for the second round was known in advance as they were the clear favourites in polls.
 [Xinhua/china.org.cn]
23/4/17