France’s Macron launches bid for second term as president

Macron announced his bid in a letter published by several regional newspapers.If he succeeds, he would be the first French leader for two decades to win a renewed term in office.”We have not achieved everything we set out to do. There are choices that, with the experience I have gained from you, I would probably make differently,” Macron said in the letter.Macron enters the presidential race just a month or so before the election’s first round on April 10. Opinion polls project that he is favorite to win a contest that sees multiple challengers on the right and left fragmenting the vote.The Ukraine war has already upended the campaign, complicating Macron’s entry into the race and leaving two far-right contenders who have performed strongly in polls to explain their hitherto pro-Russia, pro-Putin stance.With Macron at the forefront of European efforts to secure a ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to the conflict, a campaign with fewer rallies by the incumbent and an unusual focus on foreign policy lies ahead.