Ukrainian Institute for the Future -

Nadiya Koval for the “European Pravda”

A month ago the current setup of the presidential elections in France would look like a real sensation. Instead of the prominent politicians who fell by the wayside, the presidential race is spearheaded by an unheralded candidate. Emmanuel Macron currently occupies second place in the French presidential ratings, and in the second round he is quite able to convincingly defeat the leader of sympathies, ultra-right Marine Le Pen.

Of course, this name conveys nothing to the minds of most Ukrainians. Moreover, even in France among dozens of eloquent epithets which are used to characterize the former Minister of economy by the competitors and the press, the most common one is ovni – which means an unidentified flying object. A graduate of the prestigious French National School of Administration and a former employee of Rothschild’s bank, Macron began his political career in 2012 as an adviser on macroeconomic issues to the newly elected President Francois Hollande.

Despite the warm personal relationship, Hollande hesitated for a long time whether it was appropriate to appoint his protégé to the government. However, in August 2014, when an internal split inside the Socialist Party resulted in a governmental crisis, the President succumbed to the persuasions of the Prime Minister Manuel Valls, and Macron was appointed as a Minister of economy.

At first Valls saw Macron as an ally who would help him implement liberal economic reforms despite opposition of the Socialists’ old guard.