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| Macron and Le Pen pay tribute to officer killed in Champs Élysées attack | Macron and Le Pen pay tribute to officer killed in Champs Élysées attack |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| France’s presidential candidates have attended a ceremony in Paris to honour the police officer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs Élysées last week. | France’s presidential candidates have attended a ceremony in Paris to honour the police officer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs Élysées last week. |
| The outgoing president, François Hollande, paid tribute to Xavier Jugelé, 37, in a speech at the Paris police headquarters, as the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron looked on. | |
| Jugelé was killed on 20 April when an assailant opened fire with an assault rifle on a police van parked on the most famous road in the French capital. Two other officers were wounded. The attacker was shot and killed by officers. Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. | |
| Hollande said the French people must support the police. “They deserve our esteem, our solidarity, our admiration,” he said. | Hollande said the French people must support the police. “They deserve our esteem, our solidarity, our admiration,” he said. |
| In a message to the presidential candidates, Hollande asked France’s future government to “provide the necessary budget resources to recruit the indispensable people to protect our citizens and give them means to act even more efficiently”. | In a message to the presidential candidates, Hollande asked France’s future government to “provide the necessary budget resources to recruit the indispensable people to protect our citizens and give them means to act even more efficiently”. |
| Hollande recalled that the country’s police and military forces were deployed in France and abroad to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria and in Africa’s Sahel region. | |
| This is “a combat that will last, a combat that will be fought until the threat is definitively over. That combat will be long, demanding and difficult but, I am certain, victorious,” he said. | |
| Jugelé was one of the officers who raced to the Bataclan concert hall when three armed men with suicide bombs stormed a show and killed 90 people on 13 November 2015. | |
| A defender of gay rights, he was a member of Flag, a French association for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender police officers, and had joined protests against Russia’s ban on “homosexual propaganda” before the 2014 Olympics. | A defender of gay rights, he was a member of Flag, a French association for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender police officers, and had joined protests against Russia’s ban on “homosexual propaganda” before the 2014 Olympics. |
| In a speech during the ceremony, his partner, Etienne Cardiles, said: “Let’s stay dignified, let’s preserve peace.” | |
| Jugelé has been posthumously promoted to police captain and awarded Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. | |
| Macron and Le Pen will compete in a presidential runoff on 7 May after progressing from Sunday’s first round. On Monday Le Pen went on the offensive against her opponent, describing Macron as a “hysterical, radical Europeanist” who is weak on jihadi terror. | Macron and Le Pen will compete in a presidential runoff on 7 May after progressing from Sunday’s first round. On Monday Le Pen went on the offensive against her opponent, describing Macron as a “hysterical, radical Europeanist” who is weak on jihadi terror. |
| Announcing she was stepping aside temporarily from the presidency of the Front National to be “above partisan considerations” and devote herself to the race for the Elysée, Le Pen said of Macron: “He is for total open borders. He says there is no such thing as French culture. There is not one area where he shows one ounce of patriotism.” | Announcing she was stepping aside temporarily from the presidency of the Front National to be “above partisan considerations” and devote herself to the race for the Elysée, Le Pen said of Macron: “He is for total open borders. He says there is no such thing as French culture. There is not one area where he shows one ounce of patriotism.” |
| Le Pen’s aim in temporarily stepping aside from her party’s presidency is to appeal to the supporters of losing first-round candidates, particularly some of those who backed the conservative François Fillon, who finished third, and the minor rightwinger Nicolas Dupont-Aignan. | |
| Politicians from the Socialist and Les Républicains parties – the mainstream centre-left and centre-right groups that have dominated French politics for decades, but found themselves shut out by voters – united to urge the country to back Macron and reject Le Pen’s populist, anti-EU and anti-immigration nationalism. | Politicians from the Socialist and Les Républicains parties – the mainstream centre-left and centre-right groups that have dominated French politics for decades, but found themselves shut out by voters – united to urge the country to back Macron and reject Le Pen’s populist, anti-EU and anti-immigration nationalism. |
| Hollande said he would vote for Macron, his former economy minister, because Le Pen represented “both the danger of the isolation of France and of rupture with the EU”. A far-right president would “deeply divide France”, he said. “Faced with such a risk, it is not possible to … take refuge in indifference.” | Hollande said he would vote for Macron, his former economy minister, because Le Pen represented “both the danger of the isolation of France and of rupture with the EU”. A far-right president would “deeply divide France”, he said. “Faced with such a risk, it is not possible to … take refuge in indifference.” |
| Macron, 39, who founded the En Marche! movement this time last year and has never held elected office, became the clear favourite to become France’s youngest president after winning 24.01% of the vote, ahead of Le Pen’s 21.3%. | Macron, 39, who founded the En Marche! movement this time last year and has never held elected office, became the clear favourite to become France’s youngest president after winning 24.01% of the vote, ahead of Le Pen’s 21.3%. |
| Polls have consistently predicted Macron would win a head-to-head contest between the two by up to 25 points. | Polls have consistently predicted Macron would win a head-to-head contest between the two by up to 25 points. |
| Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story | Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story |