French voters have elected pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron as their new President.
The youngest leader since Napoleon, President Macron won by a decisive majority over his far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen.
Macron, 39, a former economics minister who ran as a neither ‘left nor right’ independent promising to shake up the French political system, took 66% of the vote to Le Pen’s 34%.
In a solemn victory speech, Mr Macron has vowed to unite a divided and fractured France and bring “hope and renewed confidence” to the country.
Macron defied the populist sentiment sweeping through in the Europe wake of the US election and Britain’s vote Brexit last year.
“Everyone told us it was impossible… But they didn’t know France,” President Macron said.
The victory of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron represented the third time since the US election that voters in Europe have rejected the far-right populists brand of politics.
