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By Trend

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he would run for a second term in April's elections, seeking a mandate to steer the euro zone's second-largest economy through the fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports citing Reuters.

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 second 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, listing the different crises he had to face over the past five years, including militant attacks, COVID, riots and war.

He defended his record, pointing to unemployment at a 15-year low. "I am running to defend our values that the world's disorders are threatening," he added.

Without giving a detailed manifesto, Macron said he would continue to cut taxes and push for the French to work more, suggesting a return of an abandoned pension reform. He also hinted at a reform of the education system, saying teachers should be freer and paid better.

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 favourite to win a contest that sees multiple challengers on the right and left fragmenting the vote.

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