Le Soir (Brussels) and La Libre Belgique (Charleroi) are reporting that Emmanuel Macron and Marine LePen are through to the second round of French presidential voting.
Exit polling apparently bore out the polls in this case. There is some doubt about third place and a small chance that also-rans Fillon or Melenchon could catch Le Pen, but it’s not likely.
The Belgian papers are not subject to French electoral embargoes on exit polling. Although LePen’s success may not seem like something to celebrate, if you are pro-Europe this is the best result, because Macron is now virtually guaranteed to become President of France. The gap between him and Le Pen in polling for the second round (early May) is enormous.
Macron is a former philosophy student who became a banker, and served as a minister in the Socialist government. From 1999 to 2001 he was the assistant to the famous philosopher Paul Ricoeur.