PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) – French conservative presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse said on Sunday that she would vote for President Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential election on April 24.
“(Far-right challenger Marine Le Pen’s) historical proximity with Vladimir Putin discredits her from defending the interests of our country in these tragic times. Her election would mean that France would become irrelevant on the European and international scenes. Therefore, and despite my strong disagreement with Macron …I will vote for him in order to stop Marine Le Pen,” Pecresse said in a speech to supporters.
An Ifop estimate of first-round results showed that Pecresse would not qualify for the second round, winning just 4.6% of the first-round votes.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Writing by Geert De Clercq Editing by Richard Lough)