Anti-EU Front National leader Marine Le Pen and centrist favourite Emmanuel Macron have surged through the first round of the French presidential election.
On Monday, the latest French election results showed Macron ahead with 23.86 per cent and Le Pen on 21.43 per cent.
The Republican and Socialist candidates, François Fillon and Benoît Hamon, trailed well behind.
Fillon came third with 19.94 per cent, while left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon was on 19.62 per cent.
Macron is now widely expected to enjoy a comfortable victory in the next round, following endorsements from Fillon and Hamon.
French President François Hollande called Macron to congratulate him.
Around 46.87 million voters were registered to vote in 66,546 polling stations, several of them protected - for the first time in recent memory - by armed police and soldiers.
It was the first election in France’s modern history to take place under a state of emergency. Security was tightened across the country following a spate of terrorist attacks and plots in recent months, including last week in Paris when a police officer was murdered.
Voters chose from 11 presidential candidates in what was a hotly contested race, widely viewed as another test of the post-war liberal economic order following the shock victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit vote in the UK.
A European Commission spokesperson tweeted that its President Jean-Claude Juncker had congratulated Macron for his result at the first round and wished him good luck for the rest.
Juncker’s comments are unusual, as the Commission usually avoids commenting on ongoing national elections.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, described Macron as a "patriot and European" who he felt confident would win out in the run off round with Le Pen on 7 May. Barnier added, "France must remain European".
MEPs from across the political divide were also quick to respond to the preliminary results of the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday.
The leaders of the Greens/EFA Group in Parliament, Ska Keller and Philippe Lamberts said, "This campaign has been strongly influenced by the debate around Europe. But while some candidates wished to put the future of the European Union in jeopardy, France's future is clearly in the Union. That is why we will now support Emmanuel Macron in the second round.
"In spite of the weaknesses in his platform, especially on social issues and the environment, it is time for everyone to join forces against the right-wing populist nationalism of Marine Le Pen. The aim of the EU must be to create a shared prosperity for all its people. We will call on Emmanuel Macron to strengthen his programme, especially with regard to social justice and the ecological transformation of Europe. We need France to be a leader in these areas.”
The statement went on, "Although Le Pen is in the second round, she has - just like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands before her - fallen short of her goal of becoming the strongest force in her country. That the flow of support towards the far-right populists has stagnated is a hopeful sign for European democracy. But the threat from the far-right is not over. If Macron is to take it on and defeat it, he needs to get real on social justice and do more for those who feel marginalised."
Dutch Eurosceptic MP Geert Wilders welcomed Le Pen’s success in making it to the second round as a "bright day for patriots in France and elsewhere who want more national sovereignty and less EU and immigration".
Wilders, whose party failed to break through in the Dutch elections earlier this year, added, "I have just sent her my sincere congratulations. Now on the way to a vigorous second round, I am hoping for a President Le Pen."
Meanwhile, Angela Merkel’s main opponent in Germany’s September election, Martin Schulz, the Social Democrat candidate and former President of the European Parliament, said he hoped Macron would win the second round with a broad majority to defeat the "anti-European and openly racist candidate Marine Le Pen".
"We cannot underestimate the mobilisation required to ensure that Macron also wins the second round. That’s what has to happen now," Schulz said.
German MEP Sven Giegold, spokesperson of the German Greens, said, "There can be no hesitation anymore, Macron deserves full support in the second round. These elections are now about Europe as a whole, so differences with Macron on policy issues will have to wait. The high turnout for Le Pen should be a reason for concern and it highlights just how much German dominance in the EU promotes frustration about the EU in many countries.”
“The 21 per cent vote for Le Pen is also a result of German politicians' lecturing attitude towards others in Europe. In Germany, we owe it to our French partners to discuss thoroughly how almost all the candidates expressed their discontent about the German role in Europe. In order for Europe to be held together, German EU policy has to gear up for more solidarity.”