In this week's podcast, join your host Liana Semchuk, our Lead Europe and Eurasia Analyst, along with Louis Cox-Brusseau, our Europe Analyst, and Zsofia Wolford, our Associate Europe Analyst to discuss the up and coming French Presidential Elections.

The first round of France's 2022 presidential elections will be held on 10 April. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron is currently most likely to win a second five-year term, but with an increasingly stagnant election campaign, he faces a substantial challenge from far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who has emerged as a clear challenger ahead of the first round. Extreme right-wing ideologue Éric Zemmour, conservative leader Valérie Pécresse and socialist Jean-Luc Mélenchon all face a difficult battle to survive to the second round, but voter apathy may increase this election's unpredictability as a historic low turnout is expected.