we begin in france where the race is tightening between the two front runners for the april 24th runoff far-right leader and candidate marine le pen is staging a comeback in the polls as her presidential campaign gains momentum le pen has notched the highest ever score for herself in the opinion polls in an opinion poll of a likely runoff against emmanuel macron le pen has captured 48.5 percent of voter intentions it is the highest score she has ever secured the starting from april 1st to 4th puts macron's rating at 51.5 percent according to the hari's interactive poll this is the first time that the two finalists of the presidential election are in such a close race in 2017 macron won the run-off vote against le pen with 66 percent another poll by opinion way and kia partners also focused a narrowing 53 to 47 percent margin of victory for macron the past months macron's victory has been considered almost a foregone conclusion but research farm hari's interactive has said that a victory by macron is now within the margin of error the hari's interactive poll is in line with every other survey over the last month all of them still show macron as the likely winner but since macron began the campaign with a delay there is substantial reduction in his lead macron is distracted by the ukraine crisis he has focused on rather unpopular economic reforms including raising the retirement age on the other hand le pen focused on the declining purchasing power of middle and lower income voters another major issue in the country is pension reforms macron plans to increase the legal age at which one gets a full pension from 62 to 65 but le pen wants to keep the 62 year old threshold she also wants to bring it down to 60 years for those who started working before the age of 20 years but macron argues that raising the retirement age is needed to make the system viable and increase low pensions less than one week ahead of the first election round le pen's ratings have continued to improve for both the first round and the april 24th runoff this means le pen's campaign is working well in her favor we on correspondent ross cullen is joining us live from paris ross good to see you and welcome to this broadcast purchasing power is the top focus in an election that includes far left and far right candidates ross can you begin by telling us why this neck and neck race is crucial not just for france but for europe yes you're right eric touching on those latest polls which so marine le pen rising in the polls not enough to win the presidency at the current uh level that she's polling at but they are high levels they show that the gap between her and emmanuel macron is narrowing to within the margin of error she now seems to be the likely candidate to break through the first round of voting and match up to emmanuel macron in the second round two weeks later the overall picture in europe has changed particularly since angela merkel left office in germany at the end of last year stepping down from the chancellorship and there is a new government and new chancellor olaf schultz now leading the way in germany and berlin and paris the top two capitals for the european union the two giants within the 27-member block and france really has uh the the consequences of the french election will be felt far and wide it is a permanent member of the united nations security council it is not just a european nation but has parts of the country in the caribbean in the indian ocean in the pacific ocean there are two million citizens of france spread across the indian and pacific ocean seven thousand soldiers and france's largest economic uh zone is located in the pacific ocean as well france it really is one of those major countries it's the most visited country in the world when it comes to tourism culture politics the economy it's a really important country not just for the european union but for the wider world as well ross what are some of the major issues in the minds of french voters that will be crucial in this election we are right that purchasing power is one of the top issues the energy crisis that we are seeing the cost of your utilities and rising inflation the cost of basic goods that's going to be one of the top topics on voters minds when they go to the first round of the election when all 12 candidates can go up against each other this sunday the 10th of april of those 12 the top two go through to the second round and it's likely at the moment that uh marine le pen is going to be the second favorite to make make through to the second round after emmanuel macron is the clear leader in the first round the incumbent president alongside purchasing power and inflation and home economic problems that we are seeing households having to deal with the war in ukraine is having an impact as well emmanuel macron has been campaigning but also trying to continue his diplomacy dialogue with uh western allies such as olaf schultz in germany joe biden in the united states boris johnson in the united kingdom candy but also regular calls to vladimir zelinski the ukrainian president and he is speaking to vladimir putin the russian president to try to continue to force russia into a position where it can stop the war and remove its troops from inside the ukraine continuing isolation on the kremlin in the aftermath of the discovery of the hundreds of bodies in the town of butcher just outside ukraine and we are just outside the ukrainian capital kiev and we are expecting new sanctions to be announced by the european union so emmanuel macron is also trying to continue his dialogue and diplomacy within the the context of the war in ukraine live from paris ross cullen dish thank you very much for your insights and for talking to us today we on is now available in your country download the app now and get all the news on the move
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