French President Francois Hollande welcomed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's election victory over anti-Islam, anti-EU leader Geert Wilders, as did the man who hopes to beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen and take Hollande's place in a vote next May.
French President Francois Hollande welcomed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's election victory over anti-Islam, anti-EU leader Geert Wilders, as did the man who hopes to beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen and take Hollande's place in a vote next May.
Hollande, near the end of his five-year term, on Thursday congratulated Rutte on the centre-right premier's unexpectedly sizeable score and lead over Wilders in a Dutch election closely watched by Europe ahead of France's presidential ballot.
"The President warmly congratulates Mark Rutte for his clear victory against extremism," Socialist politician Hollande said in a statement.
Centrist Emmanuel Macron, tipped by most polls to end up in a second-round runoff against Le Pen, who leads France's anti-immigrant and anti-EU National Front party, offered congratulations on social network Twitter.
"The Netherlands is showing us that a breakthrough for the extreme right is not a foregone conclusion and that progressives are gaining momentum," said the 39-year-old presidential contender, who pledges to modernise French politics and transcend traditional left-versus-right divisions.
Rutte's victory may hearten mainstream political leaders in a battle with Le Pen, who wants to ditch the euro and restore France's franc currency.
Opinion polls show Le Pen winning the first round of the election in April, but then losing a decisive second round vote in May to whichever of Macron or conservative candidate Francois Fillon makes it to the May 7 runoff. Polls now show Macron far more likely to get to the runoff than Fillon.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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