A new opinion poll shows support for Emmanuel Macron at its highest level yet in round one of France's April presidential election. The reason for this boost might also explain why the incumbent president has not yet declared his candidacy: his role in the Ukraine crisis. In this special edition of France 2022: The Campaign, we examine how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has completely upended the French presidential campaign.
Incumbent French president, chairman of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU and lead European negotiator in the weeks that led up to the Russian invasion... Emmanuel Macron is a busy man. So busy, in fact, that he still hasn't announced his bid for a second term. With war raging in Ukraine, the president even had to cut short a wine and food tasting at the annual French farming show and cancel a planned rally this coming weekend in Marseille.
But all these efforts seem to be paying off. Support for Macron has risen to its highest level yet in polling intentions for the first round of the presidential election. We take a look at how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put Macron's far-right rivals on the backfoot, forcing the usually Russophile Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour to justify their past support for Vladimir Putin.
We also focus on a very French political concept: "parrainages". In order to be eligible to stand in April's election, candidates have to gather the signatures of at least 500 elected officials before a specific date. As the deadline looms, some key candidates are still struggling to get backers.
