that s right, and he has canceled a state visit to ger germany, which he was supposed to be embarking on this sunday. this was a major date in his diary, so it just shows the kind of pressure he is under to try to dampen down this violence. now, the french government hasn t yet invoked a state of emergency, emergency powers, which it could use. they ve drafted in 45,000 police officers into towns and cities across france to try to contain the rioting, but they are under pressure to do more, especially from the far right of french politics. we ve had marine la penn, who s the leader of the national rally party, the far-right party, calling for local curfews to be put in place and people from across the political spectrum calling for calm. but we ve seen although perhaps overnight from saturday into sunday was a little camera than previous nights, there were still more than 700 people arrested and disturbs across the country in various towns and
And also potentially to make more stops in europe to continue this alliance held as closely together as possible. they are rightly pleased with how lockstep the west has been during this and standing up to putin, but they are nervous that months ahead, as this conflict perhaps drags on, that will be harder to do, particularly as the economic costs, if, indeed, europe cuts off russian oil and energy, that that could plunge parts of europe into a recession, that may make it harder and some of the leaders, in other european nations, who have stood with biden to this point, may face domestic challenges at home. and there s one right on the horizon, of course. that s the french election on sunday. and that runoff between emmanuel macron and marine la penn, and if la pen were to win, it could destabilize all of europe, not just this alliance. thank you so much for being with us this morning. i want to show you a pretty extraordinary scene from an ukrainian port city that is west of mariupo
Heightened for politicians calling for tighter restrictions on the country s muslim population. this is quite scary, especially when as a french muslim woman, i m part of one of the minorities of this country. because then it, makes us wonder, if no real candidates is being serious, as a candidate, but also about protecting our human rights, what does that leave us for our future? reporter: while polls throughout the campaign have consistently put emmanuel macron as the front-runner in this year s election, right-wing candidates like valerie la kress, marine la penn, and eric moore have garnered significant attention. their campaigns have often lent on rhetoric that some view as islam phobic or anti-immigrant. la moore has been convicted three times of inciting racial or religious hatred. in order to actually appear on the national ballot, each candidate is required to require
Hoping to win a second term. it s something no president has done for 20 years. cnn s melissa bell is in paris with more. reporter: voting is now underway in france s presidential election, a first round that s being held this sunday and that will see 49 million eligible french citizens given the opportunity to choose between 12 candidates. a vast ray of political opinion represented, not just, for instance, the traditional far right, as represented by marine la penn, but someone that outflanked her to the right, the television personality and author who is also standing. those candidates go all the way to the far left. it is, of course, an important test for emmanuel macron. five years in, and after what was a political experiment back in 2017, standing as he did, creating his own party, brushing aside the political forces that have essentially shared power here in france since 1958, five years on, having so transformed france s political landscape, can he convince enough of the fre
Right now, french voters are heading to the polls for one of the most consequential presidential elections that the country has seen in decades. incumbent emmanuel macron is facing nearly a dozen challengers from both the left and the right. this, of course, as the war in ukraine looms in the political backdrop. cnn s melissa bell has more. reporter: voting is now underway in france s presidential election, a first round that will be held this sunday and will see 49 million eligible french citizens given the opportunity to choose between 12 candidates. a vast array of political opinion represented, not just, for instance, the traditional far-right, as represented by marine la penn, but someone who outflanked her to the right. those candidates go all the way to the far-left. it is an important test for emmanuel macron five years in.